Guven wins Porsche first race from pole at Bahrain F1

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Ayhancan Guven triumphed in the 11-lap first race of the Porsche Sprint Challenge Middle East’s final round yesterday, held at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in support of the Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix.

Guven was victorious from pole but not without a tough fight from championship leader JB Simmenauer.

Guven powered his #99 car to the win in 23 minutes 00.466 seconds, just 1.751s ahead of Simmenauer. Richard Wagner came third to complete the overall podium 7.526secs off the winner’s mark.

Each of the tops was competing in the Pro class. Team Bahrain’s Shaikh Jaber bin Ali Al Khalifa competing in the Am category was 10th overall.

Winning the class was Maximilan Werndl, while taking first place in the Pro-Am category was Lucas Groeneveld, who was fourth overall.

BIC Chief Executive Shaikh Salman bin Isa Al Khalifa clinched the victory amongst the Middle East category participants, while Markus Sattler was first amongst the Central Europe competitors.

The Porsche field now heads to the second race today at 3.20 pm, which will be a tribute event to the late Walter Lechner, a dear friend of BIC and the Bahraini motorsport community, and the driving force in establishing the one-make Porsche championship in Bahrain.

Earlier yesterday, Guven clinched the pole for the first race with the best time of 2:03.947 in Qualifying. He beat Simmenauer by 0.111secs, while Jesse Van Kuijk was third after going 0.891secs behind.