Al Saud shines in Bronze category
Manama : Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed Al Saud knew that he had to perform strongly in the final race of the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East season 9, and with the top three bronze category podium places still in contention, there was everything to race for.
A strong start saw the young driver gain positions early on, closing in on championship rival Mark Radcliffe. Al Saud drove well throughout, and although couldn’t gain a position on Radcliffe, crossed the line in second place in his category, which ultimately resulted in a second place finish in Bronze for the season.
Speaking after the race, Mohammed Al Saud said, “With it being the last race today, I knew I had to put in a strong performance and finish as high as possible. I had a great start and was able to gain a few positions in the first lap. The car felt good and I was in a good position so really pushed over the next few laps. After the race I found out I had a 30 second penalty due to a jump start, which was disappointing but I was happy with my driving today and it’s just a shame that I lost points due to the decision on my start.
“It’s been an amazing experience being able to compete a full season in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East, I’ve developed so much as a driver, and feel I have the experience and tools to go on and continue to build my motorsport career. It’s a great platform for young drivers and hopefully I will be back to compete again next season.”
Mohammed Al Saud performed well over the weekend, but it was Al Zubair who took home the overall silverware. Founder and organiser of the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East, Walter Lechner of Lechner Racing, was pleased with the result.
A similar story to Race 1 of the weekend, drivers in the middle of the grid were battling hard and a few touches occurred.
Porsche Junior Champion Daniel Lu and Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Simmenauer made contract in lap one, as did Mohammed Al Saud of Bahrain and Magnus Oehman of Sweden. As the last race of the season, drivers were pushing hard for vital category points.
Khalid Al Wahaibi of Oman was one of those drivers, and he managed to secure the Silver Category due to his impressive movements up the grid. Al Wahaibi started in 11th, but manoeuvred his way up to finish in fourth and take the silverware.
British driver Mark Radcliffe kept Mohammed Al Saud in his rear-view mirror to clinch the Bronze Category title and Frijns Structural Steel Middle East walked away with the Team Category, thanks to a third-place overall podium finish from Charlie Frijns.
The GCC category and Gold Categories also went back to Oman with Al Zubair, and Al Wahaibi also picked up the Rookie Championship trophy, so it was a great season for Oman all round.
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