Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
Al Nabooda Racing’s Clemen Schmid ended Season 6 of the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East at the Bahrain International Circuit on a high by securing his second drivers’ championship by a margin of 10 points.
Schmid, who was forced to retire in Race 1 and came in fifth in Sunday’s sprint, said: “This weekend didn’t go exactly to plan. I pushed as hard as I could without taking any risks but still we didn’t make the podium so we weren’t able to retain the team title.
“I’m pleased to have won the driver’s championship and I dedicate the win to all at Al Nabooda Racing. The team was fantastic all season and the car was perfectly prepared. I’d like to thank all the mechanics. Personally, it’s been another great experience. The standard keeps improving and I had to fight all season to secure the title.”
Meanwhile, it was all smiles for the Skydive Dubai Falcons who took the team trophy for the first time after the six-month-long competition came to a close.
Team driver Sheikh Hasher Al Maktoum, who finished second in Race 1 and third in the final feature, said: “I’ve had my best weekend of the series so I’m proud of our achievements as a team for Skydive Dubai Falcons. Winning the team title was always the priority and we did it for Dubai!”
ClassicArabia Racing star Fahad Algosaibi also had a happy ending at the Gulf Air Grand Prix support race on Sunday, clinching a late win.
Algosaibi spent nine of the race’s 10 laps trailing leader Sheikh Hasher but then got his break on the final lap. The Saudi Arabian youngster took full advantage of the lead, powering forward and securing his victory with a total race time of 21mins 15.443secs.
Saeed Almehairi, Sky Dive Dubai Racing Falcon member, was a close runner-up finishing just 0.753 seconds behind and teammate Sheikh Hasher completed the race in 1.315 seconds off the winning mark.
Defending champion of BuZaid GT team, Zaid Ashkanani, finished fourth 1.787 seconds back and title favourite Schmid was fifth 2.152 seconds behind.
Race one winner Bandar Alesayi of ClassicArabia Racing came sixth as he was 4.588 seconds adrift.
Team Bahrain driver Raed Raffii was classified ninth overall, while his teammate Shaikh Jaber bin Ali Al Khalifa was 13th of 15 starters.
