Manama: The Six Hours of Bahrain is one of the special races on the annual calendar of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC).
This is the view shared by ace driver Brendon Hartley and WEC CEO Gerard Neveu.
They were in the kingdom recently to announce details about this year’s highly anticipated endurance spectacle, which is scheduled to take place on November 20 and 21 at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in Sakhir.
The 2015 Six Hours of Bahrain will be the eighth and final round of this year’s WEC season. It is scheduled to flag off in the daylight at 3pm, and then end under floodlights at 9pm.
“We are all very happy to be coming back to Bahrain,” said Hartley, who is a driver with the Porsche LMP1 team. “Here, the race is something very unique.
“It’s a fantastic track, and racing into the night is something that we drivers love. We do that in Le Mans and Austin as well, but here the track is so well lit, it’s really different.
“In my personal opinion, we drive the most beautiful cars in the world in the WEC. Both the LMP cars and the GT cars; we have two categories in both, and that makes things a little complicated but that also means it is very action-packed!”
Neveu shares Hartley’s opinion.
“This place, the quality of the race, it is very special here,” Neveu said. “Starting in the afternoon and then we go through the sunset and the race continues into the night, it is something very spectacular for the fans and definitely for the competitors who like to visit Bahrain.”
The WEC chief added that Bahrain’s motorsport fans should take advantage of the fact that BIC is the WEC’s exclusive destination in the entire region.
“The Six Hours of Bahrain is a unique chance for people in the Middle East to see our style of racing,” Neveu said.
“The quality of our paddock is absolutely amazing. These are the best sports cars in the world, with the hybrid technology and performance and everything else.
“This would be the perfect opportunity to share the passion of motorsport.”
Apart from the WEC, this year’s Six Hours of Bahrain will have four internationally and regionally renowned series as part of the support programme.
These include the GP2 Series and GP3 Series, which are already major championships as stand-alone races but now will be held during the same weekend as the WEC.
There will also be Bahrain-bred Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East and the India-based MRF Challenge.
“We are all very excited to be coming back here,” said Neveu. “It’s going to be a spectacular weekend.
“There will be racing from nine in the morning and it will all be finishing at 11 in the night; this is something incredible.”
The Six Hours of Bahrain weekend will also feature plenty of off-the-track entertainment for the whole family.
Tickets are now available and they can be purchased online at www.bahraingp.com or by calling the BIC Hotline on +973-17-450000.
Tickets cost BD10 for the entire weekend. All those aged 15 years and younger can get in free.