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SOME of the most iconic racing machines ever to grace tracks around the globe will be steering ahead in all their glory in competition at Bahrain International Circuit.
Sakhir will be the setting of the first-ever Bahrain Classic Challenge which will give fans in attendance an opportunity to take a step back in time.
Held in cooperation with Patrick Peter’s Classic Endurance Racing Series, the category will feature a packed grid of more than 20 cars from yesteryear.
Usually found at Europe’s premier venues, the series makes its journey to Bahrain to add a historic flavour to the coming Bapco Bahrain GT Festival.
For the first time, Peter Auto’s Sixties’ Endurance Grid will be showcased in the Middle East for the drivers’ final races of the year. On the track will be cars whose names such as AC Cobra, Ferrari 250 GT, Lotus 15 and Jaguar E-Type still echo in the memories of followers of endurance racing which, at one time, was the top branch of motorsport.
They are part of a long list of cars that continue to bewitch the public with their shapes, style and the noise of their exhausts that hark back to another era.
Emanuele Pirro, a five-time winner of the Le Mans 24 Hours, is passionate about historic racing and took part in last month’s meeting on his home soil in Italy, the Imola-Classic.
He said: “Today, racing cars are predictable from every point of view. That’s not the case for the historic machines. Each car has its own identity and first of all you have to understand it, speak its language as it were, before thinking of pushing it a little. I never look at the stop watch, I have my own criteria – change down cleanly, spare the brakes, hone your lines. I evaluate myself after each corner.”
This diversity, which today’s motor sport enthusiasts appear to really appreciate too, give an in-depth richness to former world championship battles.
A classification based on an Index of Performance which, in addition to the scratch classification, gives an advantage to the small capacity cars and the oldest warriors faced with their more powerful and more modern rivals like the very quick AC Cobras that have racked up victories on many circuits.
Free practice and qualifying will take place on Friday, November 30 and will be followed by two races on Saturday, December 1.
Tickets for the Bapco Bahrain GT Festival, which, as reported earlier will also feature the all-new FIA GT Nations Cup and the inaugural SRO GT4 International Cup, are now available.
They can be purchased on BIC’s official website, www.bahraingp.com, by calling the BIC Hotline on 17450000 or at the BIC stand in Bahrain City Centre. They cost BD5 apiece for adults and BD2.500 for teenagers aged 13 to 17. Those 12 and younger can attend for free.
Ticket-holders will be able to watch the classic cars in action from either the Main Grandstand or Batelco Grandstand, or both, and will also be able to roam the circuit at their leisure.
Aside from the racing, the Bapco Bahrain GT Festival will include loads of off-track family fun and entertainment, including carnival rides, games, extreme experiences, children’s activities and more.
