MOTOR RACING – Bahrain International Circuit (BIC), ‘The Home of Motorsport in the Middle East’, crowned over the weekend the 2023-24 champions of the Bahrain Drag Racing Championship (BDRC) and the Bahrain Rotax Mojo MAX Challenge (BRMC).
The BDRC staged its fifth and final round of the season at the BIC last week, culminating with a thrilling day of eliminations on Friday night. That was followed the very next evening by the end-of-season awarding ceremony, where the latest title winners of the region’s premier drag racing series, along with those from the kingdom’s top karting championship, were celebrated.
BIC chief executive Shaikh Salman bin Isa Al Khalifa attended the prize presentation and handed out the awards alongside Bahrain Motor Federation (BMF) general manager Abdulaziz Al Thawadi.
Those in the BDRC roll of honour were each presented with a prestigious ‘Wally’ trophy - an award given only to champions of National Hot Rod Association (NHRA)-sanctioned events globally.
Three individual awards for Rookies of the Season were also awarded. Winners of these trophies were Hassan Ali, Ahmed Hassan, and Saaed Al Balooshi.
Nine of the new champions were victorious in the championship-finale. They included Fahad Al Khawari in the 9.0 Index, Ahmed Malallah in the 8.5 Index, Abdulrahman Bo Alwa in the 7.5 Index, Yousif Al Zayani in the Outlaw 6-Cylinder, Yousif Al Ali in the Pro 29.5 V8, Khalil Al Ansaari in the Pro Mod, Mohamed Ali Altitoon in the Street Fight Bikes 9.5, Naser Borbaa in the 8.5 Index Bikes, and Mohammed Al Awwad in the Outlaw Bikes.
In the 9.0 Index class, Fahad Al Khawari triumphed in the final with a run of 9.049 seconds at 233.92kph. He beat countryman Bader Al Foudari, while Yaqoob Al Wadi of Bahrain came third.
In the 8.5 Index, Ahmed Malallah was the victor against Salah Al Haider in an all-Kuwaiti final. Bahrain’s Khalid Abdulkarim joined them on the podium.
Abdulrahman Bo Alwa won the 7.5 Index with a pass of 7.565s at 288.11kph in the final, defeating Jaber Ahmed in the decisive elimination. Meshari Al Kandari came third for an all-Kuwaiti podium.
Bahrain’s Yousif Al Zayani won the Outlaw 6-Cylinder final with a time of 4.185s at 285.04kph. He defeated Saudi Arabia’s Ali Adel, while fellow-Bahraini Faisal Mohammed finished third.
The UAE’s Yousif Al Ali followed suit in the Pro 29.5 V8, powering to a winning run of 3.891s in the final at a blistering 317.04kph top speed. He outran fellow-Emirati Mohammed Al Kaabi in the last head-to-head, while Abdulla Kudada of Kuwait finished in third.
Khalil Al Ansaari made it another UAE competitor on top of the podium by winning the Pro Mod for his team Bahrain1 Racing. He had a mark of 3.739s at a whopping 318.11kph to defeat countryman Rashed Al Balooshi in the final. Saad Al Murran of Bahrain joined them on the podium.
Mohamed Ali Altitoon took the win in the Street Fight Bikes 9.5 class with a pass of 10.209s at 213.11kph, defeating Sayed Yousif Faisal in the final. Faisal Isa was third to make it an all-Bahraini top three.
Kuwait’s Naser Borbaa took first place in the 8.5 Index Bikes with an 8.730s winning mark at 214.61kph in the concluding elimination, where he defeated compatriot Shehab Bader. Khalid Ali Aldossary of Saudi finished third.
Kuwaiti Mohammed Al Awwad was victorious in the Outlaw Bikes category, clocking a time of 3.962s at 286.47kph in the final. Saudis Khaled Al Dossary and Fahad Alhamoud were second and third, respectively.
Other victors in the final round were Bahrain’s Abdulrahjman Asker in the 10.0 Index, Bahraini Ali Al Fardan in the Outlaw 4-Cylinder, Kuwait’s Ebrahim Abbas in the Competition 4.5, and Saudi Arabia’s Mishari Mohammed in the Pro Street Bikes.
The 2023-24 BDRC season featured five rounds in all, held along BIC’s world-class, quarter-mile drag strip, which is a part of the Worldwide Network of the US-based NHRA. The series attracted competitors from all across the Gulf as well as from the US and Canada.
The BDRC was organised and run by BIC in co-operation with the BMF, the Bahrain Drag Racing Commission, and the Bahrain Motorcycle Commission.
Meanwhile, the BRMC champions and top three of each class included:
Micro MAX: 1 Tariq Soofi, NorthStar Racing; 2 Austin Gray, Forza Racing Bahrain; 3 Rayyan Najjar, Praga Middle East Racing
Micro MAX Entrant: Forza Racing Bahrain
Mini MAX: 1 Nasser Nass, Praga Middle East Racing; 2 Leopold Juch, Forza Racing Bahrain; 3 Shaikh Ahmed bin Saqer Al Khalifa, Victorious Motorsport
Mini MAX Entrant: Praga Middle East Racing
Junior MAX: 1 Khaled Najjar, Praga Middle East Racing; 2 Rashid Hilal, Victorious Motorsport; 3 Shaheen Shaheed, Forza Racing Bahrain
Junior MAX Entrant: Victorious Motorsport
Senior MAX: 1 Mohammed Alhasan, Praga Middle East Racing; 2 Tye Mejia, NorthStar Racing; 3 Rashid Almuammari, Victorious Motorsport
Senior MAX Entrant: NorthStar Racing
DD2 MAX: 1 Abdulla Junaid, Forza Racing Bahrain; 2 Raoul Sadi, NorthStar Racing; 3 Musaad Albassam, Forza Racing Bahrain
DD2 MAX Entrant: Forza Racing Bahrain
The BRMC’s 2023-24 campaign featured eight rounds. Racing was held along Bahrain International Circuit’s (BIKC) 1.414-kilometre CIK-FIA track, with karters of various ages and nationalities battling it out in their own Rotax-powered karts.
The BRMC was organised and run by BIC, BIKC, the BMF, and the Bahrain Karting Commission.
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