Shaikh Salman, Almuyini dominate round three

Shaikh Salman bin Isa bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa and Ahmed Almuyini both dominated their respective series in an eventful third round of National Race Day, held last weekend at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in Sakhir. Shaikh Salman set the pace in practice, captured pole position and then won both races in the BIC 2,000cc Challenge; while Almuyini also nearly posted a perfect weekend en route to claiming both sprints in the Bahrain Motorcycle Racing (BMR) 600.

All the action took place along BIC’s 2.55-kilometre Inner Track. The meeting was organised by BIC in cooperation with Circuit Racing Club (CRC) and the Bahrain Motor Federation (BMF). In the 2,000cc Challenge, Shaikh Salman kicked things off topping the practice timesheet with a best lap of one minute 17.454 seconds. Behind the wheel of his Honda Civic, Shaikh Salman was then able to claim pole position with a fastest lap time of 1:16.908 – narrowly beating Shaikh Hamad bin Isa bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, also in a Civic, by 0.487 seconds.

Shaikh Salman then made no mistake in the opening 12-lap sprint, leading from pole to the chequered flag and winning in a total time of 19:05.937. Nasser Al Alawi in a Honda S2000 finished as the runner-up 1.050s behind. He started from fourth but had a strong start and was quickly able to move up one position before capturing second place on lap seven. Ahmed bin Khanen, also driving a Civic, finished third after trailing the leaders for virtually the entire race.

He was classified 3.079s behind Shaikh Salman. Rounding out the top six, all of whom were competing in the series’ Pro class, were Raed Raffii in another S2000, Tareq Al Tajer in a Ford Focus and Abdulla Al Qaoud in a Civic. The Novice category was won by Husain Al Ghanem, also driving a Civic. He beat lady driver Farah Jaber in a BMW E30 to the chequered flag. In race two, the reverse grid did not slow down Shaikh Salman as he was quickly back in the lead by the third lap.

He coasted to the finish the rest of the way to win in 15:47.196. Al Alawi was the runner-up once again but was this time 4.687s behind. He dropped all the way to fifth with three laps to go but was able to battle back towards the end to gain his place on the podium. Raffii took third 5.617s back following a close fight with Al Alawi. In fourth was Al Tajer, bin Khanen came fifth and Al Qaoud finished sixth.

The Novice victory was this time claimed by Ali Al Bahrani in a Civic. He finished ahead of Al Ghanem and Jaber. To add to his victories, Shaikh Salman also clocked the fastest lap of both races. He set a time of 1:16.450 in race one and then clocked a best mark of 1:16.585 in race two. Meanwhile, Almuyini had a near-perfect day in the BMR 600. Riding a Yamaha R6, he had a fastest time of 1:09.675 to set the pace in practice but was then pipped in qualifying by 0.988s by Ali Ahmed Adiby on a Kawasaki ZX6R.

But that didn’t stop Almuyini from powering to victory in the opening 11-lap sprint. Almuyini gained the lead on lap three and cruised to the finish, winning by 6.152s ahead of Adiby. Sa’ad Al Hazza riding another ZX6R came third a distant 31.274s behind, while the top six was rounded out by Ibrahim Alsharida (ZX6R), Mohammed Alsadiq (Triumph 675) and Mohammed Redha (ZX6R).

In race two, Almuyini was a winner ahead of Adiby and Hazza. Alsharida was fourth, Alsadiq fifth and Redha sixth. Almuyini also clocked both fastest laps, registering a time of 1:09.619 in race one and then 1:09.642 in race two. Following all the action, the winners in each series were presented their respective trophies by officials from BIC, CRC and BMF. National Race Day returns for the fourth round of the 2019/2020 season on January 10.