MOTORSPORT – ALI Almansoori continued his sensational winning run in the 2025-26 Bahrain Touring Car Challenge (BTCC) by taking both races in the season’s third round to headline an exciting National Race Day triple-header, held over the weekend at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in Sakhir.
Almansoori secured an incredible double for the third straight meeting to remain undefeated in this BTCC campaign.
Also taking victories on National Race Day were Saeed Al Sulaiti and Mohamad Alzaidan in their respective classes of the Bahrain Motorcycle Championship (BMC), along with Ahmed Bajnaid, Ahmed Algaidy, Yazeed Al Saheel, Fahad Almulhem, Andulaziz Alramih, Fares Almutairi, and Hamad Albalooshi in their various categories in Time Attack.
National Race Day was organised and run by BIC in cooperation with the Bahrain Motor Federation, the Circuit Racing Commission, the Bahrain Motorcycle Commission, and the Bahrain Auto X and Drift Commission.
Racing in each of the three national championships took place along BIC’s 2.55-kilometre Inner Track.
In BTCC, Almansoori won the 15-lap first race in a total time of 22 minutes 55.414 seconds. He dominated the sprint, finishing a commanding 27.297 seconds ahead of runner-up Isa Ebrahim, while Algaidy, who was also competing in the BTCC, came third 36.745s back. Each of the top three were driving Honda Civics.
Almansoori then took the chequered flag in race two with an even bigger gap of 35.519s from Ebrahim, who was again second. Almansoori triumphed in 20:12.431, while he and Ebrahim were joined on the podium by James Taylor, driving an Acura RSX DC5. Taylor finished 48.610s from first place.
In the BMC, Al Sulaiti claimed his victory in the series’ 1,000cc category while Alzaidan took the win amongst the 600cc riders.
Al Sulaiti powered his Yamaha R1 to first place overall and in class in 16:09.821 after 14 laps. Fahad Al Gharabally on a Suzuki GSXR came second, both overall and in the 1,000cc category, 8.628s behind, while third was Fahad Algosaibi on a BMW 1000RR 10.406s back.
Alzaidan completed the race fourth overall while taking his 600cc win riding his Kawasaki ZX6. Joining him on the podium in class were Abdulrahman Ahmed on a Honda CBR600RR and Saif Al Buainain on a Yamaha R6.
In Time Attack, Bajnaid was the winner in the ULA class. He registered a fastest time of 1:08.934 on the combined timesheet to take first place following the round’s two heats.
Algaidy triumphed in the SU category with a best mark of 1:09.430, while Al Saheel won the SA class at 1:11.596.
Almulhem took first place in the MA category with a fastest time of 1:13.113, while Alramih triumphed in the ULB class with a best mark of 1:19.216.
Rounding off the Time Attack winners in the meeting were Almutairi in the MB category with a mark of 1:19.156, and Albalooshi in the SB class with a fastest time of 1:24.335.
Following all the action, the winners in the BTCC, BMC, and Time Attack were presented their respective trophies during their respective podium ceremonies.
BIC’s 2025-26 racing calendar features seven rounds of National Race Day. The campaign resumes next year with round four on January 10. Round five will be held on February 6, and then the sixth and penultimate meeting will take place on March 13. That will set the stage for the grand finale on April 24.
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