The 2023/2024 Bahrain Drag Racing Championship (BDRC) kicked off at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC), and leading outfit Bahrain1 Racing found themselves in familiar territory at the end of the season-opening race day held over the weekend in Sakhir.
The Bahrain1 pair of Justin Bond and Jordan Lazic, both from Canada, headlined the list of winners in the meeting’s 13 categories featuring both cars and motorbikes. Bond triumphed in the Pro Mod class while Lazic took first place in the Competition 4.5 category.
Close to 250 competitors from Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar and beyond took part in the BDRC’s first round. They lit up the world-class quarter-mile drag strip at ‘The Home of Motorsport in the Middle East’, which is a member of the NHRA Worldwide Network of the US-based National Hot Rod Association (NHRA). The BDRC is a sanctioned NHRA championship.
Following all the action, the winners were presented their trophies in podium ceremonies attended by officials from BIC, the Bahrain Motor Federation (BMF), the Bahrain Drag Racing Commission, and Bahrain Motorcycle Club (BMC).
Bond led an all-Bahrain1 trio onto the podium in the Pro Mod class. He won the final with a pass of 3.735 seconds at 321.41kph, beating teammate Khalil Al Ansaari, from the UAE, who had a time of 3.790s at 317.98kph. Khaled Al Balooshi finished third.
Lazic followed suit in the Competition 4.5, winning with a mark of 4.525s at 244kph. He defeated Ebrahim Abbas, from Kuwait, in the decider, with Abbas going for 4.551s at 242.22kph. Mubarak Al Awwad, also from Kuwait, took third place.
Meanwhile, Bahraini Hussain Abdul Jalil won the 8.5 Index class after beating Abdulaziz Al Suwailem of Kuwait in their final. Abdul Jalil had an 8.513s run at 247.88kph, overcoming Al Suwailem’s 8.525s pass at 248.54kph. Ahmed Malallah made it two Kuwaitis on the podium.
Yousif Al Zayani was the other homegrown talent to triumph. The veteran Bahraini racer clinched first place in the Outlaw 6-Cylinder category, posting a time of 4.287s at 284.57kph to defeat Mohamed Nawar of Kuwait, who had a 4.719s time at 245.29kph. Ali Khunaizi from Bahrain joined them on the podium.