Turkey shine on track

Team Turkey made history this evening after becoming the first-ever winners of an FIA GT Nations Cup race, as the Bapco Bahrain GT Festival came to a spectacular close at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in Sakhir. Their victory was marked by a dazzling fireworks display that proved to be a fitting conclusion to an action-packed weekend of GT racing at its finest.

Also, CMR won the Main Race in the GT4 International Cup, while the Bryant pair of Oliver and Grahame competing in a 1964 Shelby Cobra posted a fine double in the Bahrain Classic Challenge. Aside from the racing, thousands enjoyed the wide variety of family entertainment all throughout the day at the BIC vending area.

There was a wide array of acts to keep young children engaged, while everyone was left in awe by thrilling performances, among which included an exciting Monster Truck show.

Turkish delight

The Turkish pairing of Ayhancan Guven and Salih Yuloc steered their Mercedes-AMG GT3 to the chequered flag after an eventful 27 laps around BIC’s brilliantly illuminated 5.412-kilometre desert track. After starting from pole, Guven and Yuloc claimed first place 3.311 seconds ahead of the runners-up from Team UK, represented by Christopher Buncombe and Christopher Froggatt driving a Ferrari 488 GT3.

Coming away with the final podium place were the Team Denmark duo of Nicklas Nielsen and Johnny Laursen, who were 4.459s behind the winners in their own Ferrari 488 GT3.

CMR come-from-behind

CMR claimed a fantastic victory tonight under the stars in the first-ever Main Race of the GT4 International Cup. Their no. 35 Alpine A110 GT4, driven by Pierre Sancinena and Pierre-Alexandre Jean, cinched the chequered flag after 25 laps. After starting the race from way back in 18th position, CMR managed to battle to the front and eventually claim the well-deserved win.

They finished the hour-long session with a 5.677s gap ahead of Phoenix Racing’s no.5 Audi R8 LMS GT4, driven by Nicolaj Moller-Madsen and Milan Dontje and starting from pole. Classified in third place were 3Y Technology 9.338s behind, with Enzo Guibbert and Gilles Vannelet competing in a BMW M4 GT4. Sainteloc Junior Team came fourth, Academy Motorsport Ltd were fifth, and AKKA-ASP Team finished sixth.

The Main Race marked the end of the season for the participating GT4 teams. It was the first-ever GT4 International Cup, which brought together champions from various GT4 series held across the globe and affiliated with head organisers SRO Motorsports Group.

Bryants complete double

Oliver and Grahame Bryant completed a perfect weekend in the Bahrain Classic Challenge. They won Race Two to complete a fantastic double after also previously topping the timesheets in Practice and Qualifying. Driving their 1964 Shelby Cobra, the Bryants won the meeting’s second event with a massive gap of 55.128 seconds from the rest of the pack.

The Bryants had earlier, clinched first place from pole in the 24-lap Qualifying and were virtually unchallenged for the victory. They finished a comfortable 42.023 seconds ahead of runner-up Guillermo Fierro in Race One. Fierro in a 1960 Maserati T61 was the runner-up once again in Race Two, while Edwin Stucky and Ludovic Cholley sharing the duties in a 1964 Shelby Cobra Daytona completed the podium placers in third.

They were 1m 48.311s off the winners’ pace. In fourth were Peter Muelder and Christian Traber in a 1965 Bizzarrini 5300 GT, fifth was Malte Muller-Wrede in a 1965 Marcos 1800 GT, and in sixth were Jan Gijzen and Anthony Schrauwen in a 1958 Lister Knobbly.