WEC Bapco 8 Hours of Bahrain, National Day Festival set for brilliant spectacle at BIC

Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) welcomes back the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) this December, and for the first time ever it will be held together with the BIC National Day Festival. This four-day extravaganza is scheduled to take place December 13 to 16 at “The Home of Motorsport in the Middle East” in Sakhir, and it will be the biggest event held at BIC outside of the Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix.

Details of the massive occasion were announced at a press conference yesterday at the BIC premises in Sakhir. Speaking at the gathering were BIC Chief Executive Shaikh Salman bin Isa Al Khalifa, FIA WEC CEO Gerard Neveu and FIA WEC former World Champion and current AF Corse talent James Calado. The WEC returns with an extended eight-hour event, sponsored by long-term BIC partner Bapco. Both WEC and National Day will be open to the public from December 13, with WEC running for two days and National Day celebrations offering four days of entertainment, concluding on December 16.

The BIC also announced a major event package for the four-day festival, with regional superstar singer Balqees announced as first major concert act, together with a vast array of stunt shows, entertainers, bands and performers. Tickets are just BD1 per person per day and can be purchased from today via the BIC Sales Department or from November 1 onwards at the BIC Welcome Centre or the BIC stand at Bahrain City Centre.

Shaikh Salman said, “The Bapco 8 Hours of Bahrain, together with the BIC National Day Festival, makes for a unique celebration. We expect to attract some of our biggest ever crowds to enjoy the very best of endurance racing and the huge amount of entertainment on offer for National Day, including regional superstars for our supporting concert programme.”

Gerard Neveu said, “The Bapco 8 Hours of Bahrain, which will form the central part of the circuit’s National Day festival of motorsport, will mark the midpoint of Season 8 for us, and we are looking forward to providing visitors with exciting and unpredictable racing entertainment on track, as well as holding our traditional ‘Rookie’ test the day after our race for champions of the future.”

Racing action

The Bapco 8 Hours of Bahrain marks the fourth round of the 2019/2020 FIA WEC season. The gruelling eight-hour event makes it the second-longest race on the WEC calendar, behind only the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans. Just as in previous seasons, there will be competition in four categories, comprising the Le Mans Prototype 1 (LMP1), LMP2, Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance (LMGTE) Pro and the LMGTE Amateur classes.

Among the leading sports prototype car brands to look forward to in the LMP classes are Toyota, Ginetta, Rebellion, Alpine, Oreca and Dallara. The GT cars that are set to take to the track in the LMGTE classes include the Ferrari 488 GTE Evo, the Porsche 911 RSR-19 and the Aston Martin Vintage AMR.

Motor racing fans attending the FIA WEC Bapco 8 Hours of Bahrain will be able to enjoy an Open Paddock experience, offering a behind the scenes spectacle of the race experience. All racing will be open to the public on 13 and 14 December, with the race set to get underway at 3pm on the Saturday.