MOTORSPORT – THE Bahrain Motor Federation (BMF) announced yesterday a packed 2025-26 national racing calendar.
BMF events are to be held across five of the most popular forms of motorsport, including karting, drag racing, autocross, drifting, and circuit racing.
The new campaign will be held across nine months from September of this year to May of 2026.
Action kicks off with a test event on September 19 for the BMF’s circuit racing championships, to be held at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in Sakhir.
Karting then flags off its first championship later the same month at Bahrain International Karting Circuit (BIKC), while the circuit races and autocross events will be held from October. Drag racing and drifting will take place from November onwards.
Karting is set to feature 15 races held across three championships, including the Sakhir Rotax MAX Challenge (SRMC), the hugely popular Bahrain Rotax MAX Challenge (BRMC), and the Bahrain Karting Endurance Championship (BKEC).
The SRMC will have four rounds. Rounds one and two will be held back-to-back on September 26 and 27, as will rounds three and four on October 17 and 18.
The BRMC will then follow with an exciting eight-round championship. The first round will be held on October 31, with rounds two and three on December 12 and 13 as karting’s last events of the calendar year. Round four will then kick things off in 2026 on January 16, and then round five will be on January 30. The sixth and seventh rounds will take place February 13 and 14, leading up to the BRMC finale on April 17.
In the BKEC, a pair of three-hour events will take place on October 10 and November 15, while the ultimate endurance test – a 24-hour race – is slated for January 23 and 24.
Bahrain’s circuit racing calendar is set to be composed of seven meetings. Following testing on September 19, the championships officially get underway with round one on October 3. The second and third events will take place October 24 and November 21, while rounds four through seven will be held January 10, February 6, March 13, and April 24. A reserve round has been scheduled for May 8, if needed.
Also beginning in October will be the Bahrain Autocross Championship, which will have five rounds. The opener is set for October 25, followed by rounds two and three on January 3 and 24 next year. The fourth meeting will take place February 7, while the final round will be held on March 6.
The Bahrain Drag Racing Championship will also feature five thrilling events in its 2025-26 campaign. Each round will feature multiple days of action for Test and Tune, qualifying, and the eliminations.
Round one will light up BIC’s quarter-mile drag strip from November 25 to 28, and then round two will be held from December 23 to 26. Rounds three to five will take place next year – the third and fourth meetings across successive weeks from January 6 to 9 and then January 13 to 16, and the finale from March 3 to 6.
The Bahrain Drifting Championship starts the same month as drag and it will also feature five meetings. November 28 will see round one take place, while rounds two and three will be held on January 23 and 30. The fourth and fifth meetings follow on February 28 and March 7.
Aside from these national championships, the kingdom will also be staging three major international events during the 2025-26 season.
This year’s Bapco Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain is set for November 7 and 8 at BIC, and then the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals will return to the kingdom from November 29 to December 6 at BIKC. The highly anticipated Formula One Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix 2026 will then be headline from April 10 to 12.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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