- Published: March 23 2008
The fifth round of the Batelco 2000CC Challenge saw more excitement as Shaikh Salman bin Isa bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa secured the lead and Mustafa Al Khan brought on the competition yesterday.
Claiming the first race as his first victory on Bahrain International Circuit’s inner circuit, it wasn’t long before Shaikh Salman made a come back and snatch back his title in the second race of the round.
Many more drivers were seen participating in the fifth round of the Batelco-sponsored challenge as the Championship has gained much recognition as it has progressed. Bahraini driver Carina Abdul Rahman Ghuloom was seen as the first female participant in the challenge organized by the Circuit Racing Club.
Al Khan moves up to first place
The first race saw a fierce start from Mustafa Al Khan who was handed a penalty for being late and ended up in last place on the starting grid. But he was not behind for long as he managed to overtake the lead from Shaikh Salman bin Isa and steal first place, his first victory. During the press conference Mustafa Al Khan expressed his delight at making it to first place and surpassing Shaikh Salman. He added that he remained focus during the first place regardless of being in last place. Al Khan managed to record the fastest lap during the race with 1:22:662. Shaikh Salman bin Isa followed closely behind in second place with a 0.419 split second difference following a fierce battle.
The results after the first race were as follows: 1. Mustafa Al Khan; 2. Shaikh Salman bin Isa bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa; 3. Stephen Kellogg; 4. Rashed Al Jowder; 5. Mike Spahn; 6. Faisal Raffii; 7. Osama Al Boflasa; 8. Ali Al Kobaisi; 9. Carina Ghuloom.
Salman bin Isa comes back full force
During the second race Shaikh Salman came back in full force from the word ‘go’ after overtaking the cars on the track and going head-to-head with Mustafa Al Khan. It was a skillful race for Shaikh Salman and one in which saw him maintain the lead through all 10 laps winning 2 seconds and 087 split seconds ahead of Mustafa Al Khan. However, it was Al Khan who made it with the fastest lap of 1:22:270. Shaikh Salman expressed his delight at making it back to the number one spot and stressed that it was great seeing the interest in the challenge picking up. He also added that he went all out in the second race to make up for the first race result and pick up first position once again.
The results for the second race were: 1. Shaikh Salman bin Isa bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa; 2. Mustafa Al Khan; 3. Stephen Kellogg; 4. Rashed Al Jowder; 5. Osama Al Boflasa; 6. Faisal Raffii; 7. Ali Al Kobaisi; 8. Mike Spahn; 9. Carina Ghuloom.
Great participation in the National Sprint
During the National Sprint’s sixth round from the National Racing Championship, tens of cars and motor bikes were seen on the track. Saudi Mishal Al Sidairi managed to make it to first place in the A1 category aboard his car ‘Atom’. As for Shaikh Salman bin Isa bin Mohammed Al Khalifa won the A2 category in his GT3 RS. Saudi Fayez Al Gosaibi won the B2 category in his GT40. And in the C2 category it was Gabriella Wimmer who made it to first place in her 99C4S. As for the D2 category it was Neville Alan took first spot aboard his Porsche Targa. As for the biking categories, it was David Vandeberg who won the Group 1000whilst Greg Lumpkin picked up the title for the Group 600, whilst Jonathan Brum made it to first place in the 750 category.