Big win for Batelco

Batelco Racing (137 laps) eked out an exciting victory on Saturday in an action-packed second round of the 2015/2016 Bahrain SWS Endurance Championship, held under floodlights at Bahrain International Karting Circuit (BIKC) in Sakhir.

Mohammed Mattar and Khaled Alsaie came away with the narrowest of wins as they finished the three-hour event a mere 0.095 seconds ahead of team and runners-up Batelco Racing Mechanics, who were comprised of Ali Baslar and Abdulla Buhindi.

Both teams completed 137 laps apiece, but it was Mattar and Alsaie who enjoyed the slimmest of leads at the chequered flag.

In third place overall were the Zain Racing (136) tandem of Raed Raffii and Saeed Al Mehairi. They completed the race just a single lap behind while claiming the final podium step in the overall classification ahead of five other teams with the same total.

Batelco have now won back-to-back rounds in the series and are now heavy favourites to secure a clean sweep of the championship when it holds its third and final round next month, which will be a 24-hour event.

A record 27 teams took part composed of a minimum of two and a maximum of four drivers, and they raced in identical 13-horsepower RT8 Sodikarts.

Aside from the overall top three, competition was fierce for positioning in the three different race classes - Professional, Nationals, Corporate and also Women’s.

Following the race, the winners were presented their respective trophies in an awarding ceremony.

The championship finale is scheduled for March 11 and 12 at BIKC.

Category Results (Professional): 1) Batelco Racing (Mohammed Mattar and Khaled Alsaie), 2) Batelco Racing Mechanics (Ali Baslar and Abdulla Buhindi), 3) Zain Racing (Raed Raffii, Saeed Al Mehairi).

(Nationals):1) Batelco Racing Mechanics (Ali Baslar, Abdulla Buhindi), 2) Zain Dangerous (Essa Al Kooheji, Khalifa Al Yaqoubi), 3) ANL Racing (Alex Longden, Neil Harris, Lee Stones).

(Corporate):1) Menascope Ice Racing (Ali Dadi, Qamar Saleem),  2) BISB Menascope (Mohammed Al Waery, Ahmed Al Kooheji),  3) BBK Racing (Faisal Al Shafie, Nasser Al Alawi). 

(Women): Mahla Angels (Shatha Alzadjali, Reem Al Qatani, Amani Al Tublani and Rana Fathalla.

Overall final standings:

(137 laps) Batelco Racing, Batelco Racing Mechanics.

(136) Zain Racing, Zain Dangerous, Mahla EKT, Rainbows 4 Kids, ANL Racing, Menascope Ice Racing. 

(135) BISB Menascope, BBK Racing, FM Racing, Laser Racing, BISB Racing 1, Vertice, Redline Racing 2, BISB Racing 2. 

(134) Redline Racing  3. (133) Redline Racing, BBK Online. 

(132) WP Time Bandits. 

(131) Al Zayani Investment 1, Redline Racing 5. 

(130) Euro Trading Blackhawks, Redline Racing 4. 

(129) Al Zayani Investment 2. 

(128) Mahla Angels. 

(126) Sadara Secondee Racers.