Bahrain racing legend makes sensational comeback

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahraini motorsport legend Shaikh Salman bin Rashid Al Khalifa made an impressive comeback to competitive racing over the weekend in the opening round of the 2022/2023 Porsche Sprint Challenge Middle East, held in support of the Bapco 8 Hours of Bahrain at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in Sakhir.

Despite being away from the one-make Porsche series for more than eight years, Shaikh Salman showed why he is amongst the elite of drivers from the region by taking a victory in class from the weekend’s first of two races.

Behind the wheel of his #27 Porsche 992 GT3 Cup car, Shaikh Salman was competing in the ProAm category and powered to his win in the season-opening sprint, held over 12 laps around BIC’s 5.412-kilometre Grand Prix track.

The former British Formula Three competitor nearly made it onto the race’s overall podium, but he lost third place on the final lap and had to settle for fourth, crossing the finish line 34.411 seconds from the winner.

But he was still able to come away with first place in the ProAm class while also being first amongst the series’ GCC drivers—fantastic achievements for the Team Bahrain entrant.

In race two, Shaikh Salman also had a strong showing but narrowly missed out on a ProAm podium, going fourth in class while being classified ninth overall.

Shaikh Salman was also second amongst GCC drivers, finishing behind Bandar Alesayi from Saudi Arabia, with whom he was battling for regional supremacy all throughout the weekend.

The meeting held as part of the Bapco 8 Hours of Bahrain weekend marked the first of six rounds in the Porsche Sprint Challenge ME’s season calendar. The next event will be back at BIC on 2 and 3 December.

Round three will then take place at Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi on 28 and 29 January, followed by round four on 4 and 5 February at Dubai Autodrome.

The series then returns to BIC for its penultimate round from 3 to 5 March in support of the Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix, before heading to Jeddah for the Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on 17 to 19 March for the season-finale.