The 2017-2018 Bahrain Drag Racing Championship roared into action over the weekend with plenty of thrills at the quarter-mile strip of Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in Sakhir.
A total of 170 participants from Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the UAE and elsewhere flocked to “The Home of Motorsport in the Middle East” to take part in the most competitive drag racing series in the region.
Four homegrown drivers were among the winners in the car classes. They were Mohammed Bu Hashr, Nawaf Al Manai, Adel Khamiri and Khalid Saif.
Bu Hashr clinched first place in the Outlaw FWD category. He clocked 10.214 seconds in his final run, beating Jassim Qamber’s 11.675s. Ali Yousif finished third.
Al Manai won the Super Street 6 Cylinder runners. He clinched victory with a 7.735s run in the final where Sayed Yahya Sharf could only manage 8.638s. Ali Saleh was third.
Khamiri followed suit in the Street V8 class. His 7.891s mark beat the 8.093s of runner-up Jalil Abdulhussain. Mohamed Suliman was third.
Saif was victorious in the Outlaw 10.5 division. He beat Nabeel El Essa in the final, while Mohammed Qassim was third.
In the other cars categories, Hani Hashim won over Jameel Ebrahim in the Street 4 and 6 with Ali Abdulla finishing third; Jasim Zaman won ahead of Khalifa Al Ali in the Outlaw 6-Cylinder with Mohamed Khalid third; Mohamed Qasem won the Super Street V8 followed by Turki Khalid and Majid Al Harbi; and Hisham Al Mulla claimed first place in the Competition 4.5 with Ahmed Al Jheel the runner-up and Ahmed Al Zaabi third.
In the Pro Mod category, Turki Al Hamedu clinched first place with Khaled Alfowzan the runner-up and Jaber Al Magrabi third.
In the Index 10.5 class, Mohamed Khalfan was first; Hussain Al Hammad was victorious in the Index 9.5 category, and Mohamed Al Blooshi clinched the Index 8.5 category.
Among the motorbikers, Abdulla Al Doseri was the lone Bahraini to ride his challenger to first place. Competing in the Pro Bike category, Al Doseri clocked11.636s to beat the 23.280s of Suliman Dawood in the final run. Fahed Khadada was third.
In the Street Bike, Mesfer Al Mesfer beat Mirshari Al Turki while Yaqoub Al Ali was third.
In the Super Street Bike Meshal Al Saber was first ahead of Bradley Dale and Mohammad Borashed.
Yousif Abdulla claimed the Street Fight Bike 9.50. Abdulla Ghuloom was runner-up and Khalid Abdulkarim third.
The 2017-2018 season is set to feature five rounds in all and will be held until March next year. Round two is set from January 9 to 12, followed by round three the very next weekend from January 16 to 19.
The final two events will be another pair of back-to-back weekends, with round four from February 27 to March 2 and round five season-finale from March 6 to 9.
For more information on Bahrain Drag Racing Championship, visit the circuit’s official website on www.bahraingp.com or call BIC Hotline +973-17-450000.