The Middle East’s leading drag racing series wrapped up its latest campaign with the fifth and final round at the Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in Sakhir.
The titles for the 2021/2022 Bahrain Drag Racing Championship were handed out in an official awarding ceremony held at the BIC Paddock on Saturday.
The champions were each presented with a Wally trophy – the highest honour in drag racing awarded in events sanctioned by the US-based National Hot Rod Association (NHRA). The world-class BIC drag strip is a member of the NHRA Worldwide Network.
Those honoured included Bahrain1 Racing ace Khaled Al Balooshi (Pro Mod) from the UAE, and four Bahrainis – Abdulla Yaqoub (10.0 Index), Hussain Saeed Yousif (8.5 Index), Yousif Alzayani (Outlaw 6-Cylinder), Hussain Mohammed (Pro 29.5 V8).
Four Kuwaitis were crowned champions, including Sayed Hussain Al Hadad (7.5 Index), Ahmed Alsaai (Outlaw 4-Cylinder), Fawaz Karam (Competition 4.5) and Mohammed Al Awwad (Outlaw Bikes).
Fadi Abu Jamus from Saudi Arabia clinched a double by winning the Street Fight Bikes 9.5 and 8.5 Index Bikes categories, while countryman Mishari Al Turki made it two Saudi champions by winning the Pro Street Bikes class.
Hamdan Juma from the UAE rounded off the winners list by taking the Index 9.0 category.
There was plenty of excitment in the season-finale with some titles still to fight for and despite others already being decided.
Bahrain1’s Al Balooshi was assured of his crown heading into the meeting – having won three of the previous four rounds – but was still determined to finish on a high, and he did just that.
He won his final elimination with a pass of 3.744 seconds at 319.53kmph to beat Muslem Alqallaf’s 3.984s run. Bahrain1 teammate Stevie Jackson, from the US, the back-to-back reigning NHRA Pro Mod world champion, was classified third.
Eight of the other champions were also decided in the season-finale.
Yaqoub took first place in the 10.0 Index category with a winning time of 10.068s and a top speed of 197.25kmph, as final opponent Abdulaziz Al Qattan had a red light. Alzayani followed suit in the Outlaw 6-Cylinder class, winning with a 4.366s final pass at 270.57kmph to beat Nawaf Almanai’s 4.427s. Mohammed triumphed in the Pro 29.5 V8 with a time of 4.079s at 217.10kmph, outduelling Abdulla Al Shamsi.
In the 9.0 Index category, Juma secured place first with a run of 9.102s at 232.72kmph in the final elimination to beat Nasser Adel Alghanem’s 9.160s. Alsaai won the Outlaw 4-Cylinder class with an 8.734s time at 262.81kmph to beat Mahmood Saleh’s 11.063s.
Abu Jamus claimed the 8.5 Index Bikes division after going for an 8.534s run at 220.53kmph in the final elimination. Al Turki won the Pro Street Bikes with a 4.504s pass at 268.91kmph to beat Ahmed Bin Belal’s 4.873s, while Al Awwad clinched the Outlaw Bikes title with a 4.235s time at 258.73kmph, outgunning Jehad Aljamal’s 6.438s.
Elsewhere in the round, Hussain Abduljalil won amongst the 8.5 Index contestants after beating Ahmed Sarhan with an 8.531s pass at 260.20kmph. Mohammed Suliman clinched the 7.5 Index class with a 7.604s final pass at 283.57kmph to narrowly defeat Al Hadad’s 7.725s time.
Bassel Ebrahim Abbas won the Competition 4.5 category with a run of 4.509s at 244.17kmph, beating the 4.550s mark of Ebrahim Abdulla. Nasser Al Kubaisi completed the winners’ list with his triumph in the Street Fight Bikes 9.5 division, where he had a 9.695s time at 223.51kmph in the final elimination, outduelling Yusuf Hilal.
The 2021/2022 season of the Bahrain Drag Racing Championship featured participants from across the GCC and the US, with competitors reaching record numbers of up to 225 in a meeting.
BIC COO Fayez Ramzy Fayez was in attendance, along with other officials from BIC, the Bahrain Motor Federation (BMF) and the Bahrain Drag Racing Club (BDRC).
The championship was organised and run by BIC, the BMF and the BDRC.
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