Shaikh Salman, Almuyini rally on

Shaikh Salman bin Isa bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa and Ahmed Almuyini continued their winning ways in their respective local championships, after both took a victory in round five of National Race Day at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in Sakhir.

Shaikh Salman won the first of two races in the BIC 2,000cc Challenge while Almuyini claimed the opening sprint in the Bahrain Motorcycle Racing (BMR) 600. Both drivers are the current leaders in their respective series.

Mohammed Faqihi was other race winner in the 2,000cc, while Ali Ahmed Adiby took the second event in the BMR 600.

Action in the 2,000cc and BMR 600 were held as part of National Race Day, which took place along BIC’s 2.55-kilometre Inner Track. The meeting was organised by BIC in cooperation with the Bahrain Motor Federation (BMF), Circuit Racing Club (CRC) and the Bahrain Motorcycle Club (BMC).

Nasser Al Alawi driving a Honda S2000 kicked off the 2,000cc battles on a positive note after topping the practice timesheet with a best lap of one minute 17.645 seconds.

Shaikh Salman in his multi-coloured Honda Civic then made his presence felt, capturing pole position with a fastest lap of 1:16.331 and pipping Raed Raffii in another S2000 by just 0.059 seconds.

Shaikh Salman then made the most of his leading starting position in a pole-to-flag victory in the 2,000cc’s opening 12-lap race. He completed the sprint in a total time of 15:35.606, just 1.275s ahead of Raffii, who did well to maintain his position in second all through the event.

Shaikh Hamad bin Isa bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, who was also driving a Civic, claimed third place 6.923s behind Shaikh Salman. Shaikh Hamad started from seventh on the grid but was able to move up to third on lap five.

Faqihi, in another Civic, Ahmed bin Khanen driving a Civic EG4, and Tareq Al Tajer in a Ford Focus, rounded out the top six, all of whom were in the Pro class.

In the Novice category, Andreas Buelow was first in 16:28.740. Wiebke Buelow came second while Ali Al Bahrani was third. All three were also driving Civics.

Shaikh Salman added to his win by posting the sprint’s fastest lap of 1:16.667.

In race two, Raed Himmo and Al Alawi were on the front row following the reverse grid rule. Faqihi started from fifth, but he gradually made his way to the front before taking over as the leader on lap eight. He captured the chequered flag in a total race time of 15:42.985.

Raffii was once again the runner-up but this time was beaten by just 0.791s, while Al Tajer came third 2.994s behind. Bin Khanen, Majed Himmo in a Civic and Andreas Buelow completed the top six.

Buelow was also the winner once again amongst the Novice drivers. He was trailed again by Wiebke Buelow and Al Bahrani.

Shaikh Hamad clocked the fastest lap of the sprint of 1:17.087.

With both race results, Shaikh Salman claimed his seventh victory of the season while Faqihi won for the first time.

Meanwhile, in the BMR 600, Adiby in a Kawasaki ZX6R topped practice times with a 1:09.992 lap, before Almuyini riding a Yamaha R6 snatched pole in qualifying with a best mark of 1:09.604.

Almuyini then went on to win the first 11-lap race in 13:04.655. Adiby followed 2.363s behind while Ibrahim Alsharida on a Kawasaki ZX6R was a distant third, 19.165s back. Saad Al Hazza in a Kawasaki ZX6R was fourth, Mohammed Alsadiq on a Triumph 675 fifth and Mohammed Alzahrani riding an R6 was sixth.

In race two, Adiby was the winner in 13:14.660. He finished 6.212s ahead of Alsharida, while Al Hazza came third 8.790s behind. Alsadiq, Mohammed Redha on a ZX6R and Alzahrani completed the top six.

Following all the action, the winners in both championships were presented their respective trophies in the podium ceremony by BIC, BMF, CRC and BMC officials.

The season resumes with the sixth and penultimate round of national races on the weekend of February 21 and 22 at BIC.