Bahrain1 claim fantastic double
TDT | Manama
The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com
The 2023/2024 Bahrain Drag Racing Championship (BDRC) kicked off at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC), and leading outfit Bahrain1 Racing found themselves in familiar territory at the end of the season-opening race day held over the weekend in Sakhir.
The Bahrain1 pair of Justin Bond and Jordan Lazic, both from Canada, headlined the list of winners in the meeting’s 12 competition categories featuring both cars and motorbikes. Bond triumphed in the highly competitive Pro Mod class while Lazic took first place in the Competition 4.5 category.
Close to 250 competitors from Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar and beyond took part in the BDRC’s first round. They lit up the world-class quarter-mile drag strip at “The Home of Motorsport in the Middle East”, which is a member of the prestigious NHRA Worldwide Network of the U.S.-based National Hot Rod Association (NHRA).
The BDRC is a sanctioned NHRA championship. Following all the meeting’s action, the winners were presented their respective trophies in podium ceremonies attended by officials from BIC, the Bahrain Motor Federation (BMF), the Bahrain Drag Racing Commission, and Bahrain Motorcycle Club (BMC).
Bond led an all-Bahrain1 trio onto the podium in the Pro Mod class. He won the final with a pass of 3.735 seconds at 321.41kph, beating teammate Khalil Al Ansaari from the UAE who had a time of 3.790s at 317.98kph.
Khaled Al Balooshi was classified third. Lazic followed suit in the Competition 4.5, winning with a mark of 4.525s at 244.00kph. He defeated Ebrahim Abbas from Kuwait in the decider, with Abbas going for 4.551s at 242.22kph. Mubarak al Awwad, also from Kuwait, took third place.
Meanwhile, drivers from Bahrain, Saudi and Kuwait took to the top step of the podium in the other categories. Bahraini Hussain Abdul Jalil won the 8.5 Index class after beating Abdulaziz Al Suwailem of Kuwait in their final.
Abdul Jalil had an 8.513s run at 247.88kph, overcoming Al Suwailem’s 8.525s pass at 248.54kph. Ahmed Malallah made it two Kuwaitis on the podium. Yousif Al Zayani was the other homegrown talent to triumph. The veteran Bahraini racer clinched first place in the Outlaw 6-Cylinder category, posting a time of 4.287s at 284.57kph to defeat Mohamed Nawar of Kuwait, who had a 4.719s time at 245.29kph.
Ali Khunaizi from Bahrain joined them on the podium. Elsewhere, six Kuwaitis won their categories, including Khalaf Al Saad, Fahad Khwari, Jaber Ahmed, Majed Al Harbi, Mohammed Al Awad and Fahad Al Harbi. Al Saad had a 10.138s time at 185.36kph to beat countryman Thamer Al Khaldi in the 10.0 Index final, with Bahrain’s Abdulla Al Doseri taking third.
Khwari won the 9.0 Index class with a mark of 9.097s at 217.33kph to defeat Ahmed Al Harbi in their last elimination, with Ahmed Al Yaqoub taking third for an all-Kuwaiti podium. Ahmed won the 7.5 Index with a 7.909s final pass at 272.89kph to beat Sayed Hussain Al Haddad, with Abdulrahman Bo Alwa taking third for another all-Kuwait top three.
Majed Al Harbi defeated Yousif Al Ali of the UAE in the Pro 29.5 V8 final with a 4.545s time at 270.96kph, while Qatar’s Khalid Al Sultan claimed the other podium step. Al Awad won his Outlaw Bikes class with a 4.075s final pass at 257.43kph to defeat Saudi’s Mishari Al Turki in the final, with Kuwait’s Abdulla Abdulaziz in third place.
Fahad Al Harbi then took the Pro Street Bikes win against Saudi’s Mishari Mohammed with a 4.587s run at 270.00kph in the final. Yaqout Saad, also from Kuwait, joined them on the podium. The round’s Saudi winners were Fadi Abu Jamous and Khalid Ali.
Abu Jamous had a final elimination run of 9.514s at 219.94kph to beat countryman Waleed Al Badeer in the Street Fight Bikes 9.5 final, with Bahrain’s Hasan Ali taking third. Khalid Ali then triumphed in the 8.5 Index Bikes with an 8.555s run at 249.51kph to beat Kuwait’s Naser Bader. Bahraini Mohammed Hasan was also on the podium in third place.
The BDRC is organised by BIC in cooperation with the BMF, the Bahrain Drag Racing Commission and the BMC. The 2023/2024 calendar features five rounds in all and it continues until March of next year. Round two is scheduled for 9 to 12 January, to be followed by the third round to be held from 30 January to 2 February. Round four will be the following week from 6 to 9 February, and then the championship finale will take place 19 to 22 March.
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