Lapping up the action

The Bahrain International Circuit hosted another thrillingday of racing action on both two and four wheels as the latest National RaceDay wowed fans and racers alike.

The headline result was Shaikh Salman bin Isa bin Ebrahim AlKhalifa clinching a superb double in round four of the 2018/2019 BIC 2,000ccChallenge on the Sakhir tarmac.

Shaikh Salman showed his prowess as a former champion withthe pair of fine results, which came against a strong field of 14 other racers.

Also celebrating double joy on the day were Masoud Behbehaniand Abdul Samee. Behbehani won both races in the Bahrain Superbike Championshipwhile Samee claimed the two sprints in the Bahrain Supersport Championship(BSSP) 125.

All the action at National Race Day took place along BIC’s2.55km Inner Track.

In the 2,000cc Challenge, Shaikh Salman had a slow start tothe meeting after being classified third in the practice session. Inqualifying, however, the former champion found his form and steered his whiteHonda Civic to pole position. He clocked a best lap time of 1m 16.079s in onlythe second of four laps of work.

In race one, Shaikh Salman made the most of his leadingstarting position and went on to take the chequered flag after 12 laps in atime of 15m 41.348s. He finished with a 4.195s gap ahead of runner-up Ahmed binKhanen, who was driving a white Honda Civic EG4. Tareq Al Tajer in a red FordFocus completed the podium placers 16.483s back.

Each of the top three were competing in the Pro class of the2,000cc Challenge.

In the Novice category, Majed Himmo in a yellow Civic wasfirst, with Giovanni Salerno driving a blue Focus in second and Abdulla Al Qoudin third.

In race two, despite starting from the midfield in eighthposition, Shaikh Salman managed to claim first place once again but this timehe needed to overcome a tight battle with bin Khanen. Only 0.668s separated thepair in the end, with Nasser Al Alawi in a red Honda S2000 taking third placebehind them.

Amongst the Novice competitors, Al Qoud was in firstfollowed by Khalid Al Saei in a silver Renault Clio and Himmo in third.

Shaikh Salman registered the fastest lap in both races,first clocking a lap of 1m 15.684s and then going for 1m 16.749s in race two.

Meanwhile, in the BSBK, Behbehani was the pace setter fromthe onset, topping the timesheet in both practice and qualifying.

In race one, he completed the 11-lap event in 13m 05.452s.He was 6.757s ahead of runner-up Salman Khalaf, while Anthony Boira was adistant third 31.716s back. Behbehani clocked the fastest lap of 1m 10.505s.

In race two, Behbehani took the slimmest of victories in 13m11.211s. He beat Khalaf to the finish by a mere 0.058s, while Boira was third23.342s behind. Khalaf had the race’s fastest lap of 1m 10.774s.

In the BSSP 125, Samee was dominant from the start. He ledthe way in practice and qualifying, and then did the same in race one, winningthe eight-lap sprint in 18m 05.549s. Yusuf Qaed and Subah Jassim took the otherpodium steps. Samee had the fastest lap of 1m 39.632s.

In race two, it was Samee and Qaed in the first two places,with Samee winning in 13m 27.503s and Qaed finishing just 3.345s behind. ShaunGillespie was third in this race, 22.645s from the winner. Samee had the bestlap of 1m 38.022s.

Following all the races, the winners were presented theirrespective trophies by officials from BIC, the Bahrain Motor Federation, theCircuit Racing Club and the Bahrain Motorcycle Club.