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After a thrilling first round at the Yas Marina Circuit in neighbouring Abu Dhabi the 2010 V8 Supercars are heading to the sands of Sakhir for the Gulf Air Desert 400.
The second round of the Australia Championship roars into action this weekend at the Bahrain International Circuit. Desert 400 is the second-largest racing extravaganza hosted annually by the kingdom.
Martin Whitaker, V8's soon-to-be chief executive officer, said: "The start of any racing championship is always exciting and last weekend's opening round of the 2010 V8 Supercars Championship at Yas Marina Circuit delivered exactly what everyone was expecting.
"The uniqueness of a daylight start for the races, racing through twilight to darkness was fantastic and produced a grand stage for a great set of races on Friday and Saturday.
"The size of the grid underlines the appeal of the championship and it's great to see such a well-supported and highly-contested series with global television exposure to boot. It also reminded everyone of what to expect this coming weekend in Bahrain.
"The V8 race has always created a great deal of excitement and interest. It is a huge crowd pleaser for its action and open paddock.
"It is the circuit's biggest race outside Formula One and one that everyone always looks forward to.
"The most important change for V8 this year is the use of the Grand Prix circuit (the old one, not the new one that will be used for F1 in March). The V8 drivers have always wanted to race on the GP circuit and the introduction of the two 200km endurance races makes this possible.
"My personal view on what makes it so unique is the access to the teams and drivers and, of course, the level of competition - big grids with the characteristic V8 sound and plenty of on-track, door-handle-to-door-handle action throughout the 200km races.
"There is something happening throughout the race with the added spectacle of fuel and tyre stops. The television coverage is excellent and adds to the overall experience.
"The open paddock atmosphere is something that all the spectators love. This gives the spectators a chance to get right to the heart of the action and underlines the popularity of a sport where crowds of over 100,000 on race day in Australia are not unusual.
"BIC's traditional entertainment for the whole family and the general interest throughout the kingdom for these Australian monster cars adds to the experience."
As for 'Yas V8 400' in Abu Dhabi, Jamie Whincup of Team Vodafone, the back-to-back V8 Supercars champion, capped a perfect performance in his Holden Commodore VE winning both 200km races.
In race one, Whincup took the victory from pole position and led his teammate Craig Lowndes home to score a superb one-two to open the weekend's festivities.
Mark Winterbottom of Ford Performance Racing rounded out the podium in third position.
In the second race, Whincup took the lead into the first corner after pole-sitter Winterbottom made a slow start. Whincup was untouchable thereafter eventually cruising to a 4.06-second victory.
After fading to fifth on lap one, Winterbottom recovered to finish second, while young New Zealander Shane van Gisbergen of Stone Brothers Racing completed the podium taking third place and also setting the fastest lap of the race in 1min 58.7370secs on lap 28.
Heading into the season's second round, the Gulf Air Desert 400 in Bahrain, Whincup has a perfect score of 300 points, while Winterbottom is second with 267 and Lowndes in third spot with 249 points.
Whitaker, the BIC's F1 advisor and former CEO, moves to Australia to take up his new post after the Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix. He believes that Whincup got off to a fantastic start in defending his crown and the switch from Ford to Holden by his 888 team looks to be extremely effective.
