Oeverhaus, Wurz take National Day victories!

TDT | Manama                                                        

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Theo Oeverhaus from Germany and Oscar Wurz of Austria completed sensational doubles yesterday, while Suleiman Zanfari from Morocco and Frederico Al Rifai of the UAE were also triumphant on the second and concluding day of Beyon Speed Weekend at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in Sakhir.

On the occasion of the Kingdom of Bahrain’s celebrations of its National Day, the anniversary of His Majesty the King’s Accession to the Throne, and the accompanying national events, Beyon Speed Weekend was held as the on-track highlight of BIC’s festivities.

Oeverhaus made it back-toback victories to wrap up the second round of the 2023/2024 Porsche Carrera Cup Middle East (PCCME).

Wurz followed suit with win number two from four races in the first-ever meeting of the all-new Formula 4 Saudi Arabia Trophy, with Zanfari and Al Rifai also taking turns in claiming the chequered flag yesterday.

In the PCCME’s second race of Beyon Speed Weekend, Oeverhaus, who had earlier in the day claimed pole position with a best lap of two minutes 02.129 seconds in qualifying, did masterfully once again to hold on to his advantage to win with a comfortable gap at the end of 12 laps.

The DHL Team driver had a finishing time of 24:55.126 and was 8.780 seconds ahead of runner-up and countryman Janne Stiak of JS Racing.

Dutchman Flynt Schuring of Central Europe Racing completed the overall podium 9.599s from Oeverhaus, who captured his third win of the PCCME campaign.

All three were also the top finishers in the race’s Pro class.

Kuwaiti Ahmad Al Shehab of Team Kuwait won the ProAm category after taking seventh on the overall final classification, while Italian Sebastian Gorga of R1SE Motorsport was first in the Am class.

A total of 15 drivers from all over the world competed in this second round of the PCCME season.

The Porsches will be back in action in round three taking place in Dubai on 20 and 21 January of next year, and then the fourth meeting will be a week later in Abu Dhabi on 27 and 28 January.

The final two rounds will then be held in support of Formula 1.

The penultimate event will take place during next year’s F1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix weekend from 29 February to 2 March.

That will pave the way for the season-finale at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix from 7 to 9 March.

In the Formula 4 Saudi Arabia Trophy, three races were held yesterday at Beyon Speed Weekend following the lone sprint held on Friday.

Suleiman Zanfari took the meeting’s second race with a total winning time of 23:12.063.

Faisal Alkabbani of Saudi Arabia finished in second 2.620s from first, while Amna Alqubaisi of the UAE came third.

She was 2.825s behind Zanfari to complete the podium placers.

Frederico Al Rifai finished fourth, Montego Maassen of Germany was fifth, and Hamda Alqubaisi from the UAE rounded out the top six from the field of 13.

In the round’s third race, Al Rifai was the top man and he secured his victory in 21:15.775.

Hamda was this time the Alqubaisi on the podium by taking second 1.266s behind, while Wurz joined them in the top three 2.557s adrift.

Saqer Almoasherji of Kuwait, Kirill Kutskov of Kyrgyzstan and Maassen were classified fourth through sixth, respectively.

After starting the weekend off with a win in race one, Oscar Wurz signed off from the round with the victory in race four for his fine double in Bahrain.

Wurz won with a time of 26:17.528, narrowly beating out Omar Alwaleed Aldereyaane of Saudi Arabia by 0.532s.

Zanfari was once again on the podium, this time in third, 2.846s back.

Almoasherji, Maassen and Kutsov were also in the top six.