BAHRAIN is being well represented this weekend at the prestigious Sodi World Finals in Lignano, Italy.
A handful of local karting talents will be competing at the 1.2-kilometre Circuito Internazionale Venezia Giulia with the hopes of claiming one of the two world titles up for grabs. They be racing in the Endurance Cup and the Sprint Cup.
Around 300 of the world’s best karters this year are set to suit up for the weekend’s events. The kingdom’s representatives earned the right to race after excelling in this year’s Bahrain Karting Championships, organised by Bahrain International Karting Circuit and including the Bahrain Karting Endurance Championship and the Bahrain Sprint Sodi World Series.
Set to race in the Endurance Cup are Ice Racing Team and Racing.BH.
Ice Racing Team will be battling it out in the Elite category while Racing.BH are in the legendary class.
Ice are set to feature the likes of Bahrainis Ali Dadi, Ahmed Kooheji and Qamar Saleem along with British teenager Louis Skalski.
Racing.BH, meanwhile, will see the likes of Bahraini Mohammed Mattar and Emiratis Ramez Azzam and Saeed Al Mehairi sharing the drivers’ duties.
In the 12-hour endurance challenge, they will be going up against some tough competition with the rest of the field consisting of teams from France, Spain, Ukraine, Russia, Slovakia, Poland, Portugal, Japan, Oman, Hungary, Germany, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Croatia, Belgium, Austria, Australia, the UK, the UAE and hosts Italy.
In the Sprint Cup at the Sodi World Finals, Bahrain have three local entrants.
They are Abdulla Buhindi, Rashid Almuammari and Ahmed Ebrahim.
The Bahraini trio are amongst around 80 individual karters racing in this category.
Heading into the weekend’s events, the Bahrainis were upbeat.
Ice Racing Team’s manager Mohammed Al Jowder said that his squad had spent a long time preparing and training for this weekend, and are now eager to go out and deliver a world-class performance.
He noted that Ice Racing Team’s drivers have the experience to get quality results against such a strong field, and they have planned their strategy well heading into the Sodi World Finals.
On behalf of the team, Jowder expressed his deep appreciation to Bahrain Motor Federation president Shaikh Abdulla bin Isa Al Khalifa as well as Bahrain International Circuit Chief Executive Shaikh Salman bin Isa Al Khalifa for all their support to the team and to the sport of karting in Bahrain.
The Sodi World Finals gather each year the very best worldwide SWS drivers for an intense competitions event. Based on the Sodi World Series rankings, the best teams and drivers, amongst 40,000 registered around the world, compete during a whole year at their home track for the right to earn a precious ticket for this massive event.
There is also a Junior Cup at the Sodi World Finals, but no Bahrainis are racing for that trophy.
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