AUSTRALIA’S V8 Supercars Series returns to Bahrain with the promise of a more exciting race-weekend than last year’s inaugural Desert 400 races.

The event will be held at the Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) from November 1 to 3.
The fire-breathing, fender-bending action of the Supercars took the Middle East by storm on its BIC debut in last season’s Supercars championship, attracting over 28,000 spectators from the region and around the world.
“The Desert 400 of the V8 Supercars Series is a massive event for the BIC and for the Kingdom of Bahrain, and we are extremely excited to be welcoming them back this year,” said BIC chief executive Martin Whitaker.
“Last year’s Desert 400 was our biggest race-weekend outside of the Formula One, and I’m certain that this year’s event will be even more exciting.
“We’ve got a very exciting race programme lined up this year, and a lot of off-the-track entertainment over the three days. We are expecting an even bigger crowd than we had in 2006.”
Bahrain will be the 12th of 14 rounds on this year’s Supercars championship, and the only event held outside of Australia and New Zealand.
“It gives the Supercars drivers the chance to race somewhere else outside of their part of the world, and it brings them closer to a lot of their fans who are based in Europe and further in the west,” Mr Whitaker added.
The V8 Supercars Series consists of 31 Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore sedans (the Holden is known in the Middle East as the Chevrolet Lumina), all boasting incredible power and speed and strictly governed by the series    officials to ensure equal performance.
Races are hard and fast, with cars running two and three abreast into almost every corner while spitting their trademark exhaust flames.
Special to the Desert 400 is an open Paddock, where fans come from across the stands to the teams’ designated areas, and experience the off-the-track activities that are usually held behind closed doors during other events.
This year’s race-weekend will also feature four exciting support series, including the inaugural races of the NASCAR-like Speedcar Series which features former Formula One drivers such as Frenchman Jean Alesi, Briton Johnny Herbert, Swede Stefan Johansson and Indian Narain Karthikeyan, among others.
The other series are the Lumina CSV Championship, the Gulf Radical Cup and the Thunder Arabia Middle East Series.
The ticket prices for all three days have been reduced, with adults now able to get in for as little as BD10 and children aged three to 15 for just BD5.
Children can also get in free on the Friday of the race-weekend.