MOTORSPORT – Isa Ebrahim headlined the winners in the sixth and penultimate round of National Race Day this 2024-25 local racing season at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in Sakhir.
The meeting featured the Bahrain Touring Car Challenge (BTCC) and the Bahrain Motorcycle Championship (BMC) – two of the kingdom’s premier national series at ‘The Home of Motorsport in the Middle East’. Action was held along BIC’s 2.554-kilometre Inner Track under lights.
Ebrahim claimed a fantastic double in the BTCC while Mohammed Alzaidan and Saud Al Toura were the winners in their respective BMC classes.
National Race Day was organised by BIC in cooperation with the Bahrain Motor Federation, Circuit Racing Commission, and Bahrain Motorcycle Commission.
In the BTCC, Ebrahim had a perfect round. He kicked it off by topping the practice timesheet with a fastest lap of one minute 20.547 seconds in his Honda Civic contender. Ebrahim followed that up by capturing pole for the first of two races with a best time of 1:20.785 in qualifying.
He then went on to take the chequered flag in the opening BTCC sprint, which he completed in 21:53.775 after 15 laps. Ebrahim finished 1.600s ahead of the Radio Bahrain entrant competing in a Honda Integra, while Ali Baqer came third more than a minute behind, also in a Civic. Baqer was also triumphant in the BTCC junior category.
Ebrahim completed his double by taking race two with a more comfortable margin. He won the 15-lap event in 20:42.249, going 8.189s ahead of the Radio Bahrain entrant and one lap in front of Baqer, who completed the same podium order.
While claiming the two wins, Ebrahim also set the fastest laps in both races – first at 1:20.118 and then 1:20.532.
Meanwhile, in the BMC, Alaidan claimed his victory this round in the 600cc class on his Kawasaki ZX6 motorbike, while Al Toura triumphed in the 1,000cc category on his BMW S 1000 RR.
In the free practice session, Ali Bou Shahri on a Honda CBR 600 RR set the fastest lap amongst the 600cc runners of 1:12.176, while Nawaf Al Shuaibi riding a Honda CPR 100 RR went fastest in the 1,000cc class with a 1:12.952 lap.
Alzaidan and Al Toura then topped their categories in qualifying, clocking times of 1:10.576 and 1:10.129, respectively, for pole in class.
In the night’s sole 15-lap race, Alzaidan secured first place in the 600cc in 16:30.745. He enjoyed a comfortable 22.565s gap from Bou Shahri, while Saif Al Buainain in a Yamaha R6 came third 28.309s back.
Amongst the 1,000cc competitors, Al Toura won in 16:37.610. He finished 54.731s in front of runner-up Hassan Al Awadhi on a Yamaha R1, while Bander Bahlul completed the podium placers on his BMW 10004R a lap behind.
Alzaidan had the overall fastest lap of the race of 1:09.962.
Following all the action, the winners from both the BTCC and BMC were awarded their respective trophies in the podium ceremonies.
Top stories for today:
Record BD800 million housing budget
Taxation agreement with Guernsey approved
Pledge to keep high standards while developing infrastructure
&uuid=(email))