- Published: January 27 2008
The excitement continued at the BIC as the Batelco 2000CC Challenge brought more thrills during its second round, as it sidelined the fourth round of the National Circuit Racing Championship yesterday.
With fierce competition hitting the tracks, Shaikh Salman bin Isa bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa showed no mercy as he breezed through to first place in both races once again, leaving the other drivers in his dust. Having won the first round with maximum points, the star gave an equally impressive performance, which added another 900 dinars to his winnings and earned him the title of Schumacher of the 2000CC world.
The circuit saw the racing superstar go from strength to strength as he defeated his rivals in the first race in 14 minutes, 47 seconds and 136 split seconds, leaving Mike Spahn 6.565 seconds behind in second place. His fastest lap was clocked in at 1 minute 24 seconds and 86 split seconds.
The standings after the first race put Shaikh Salman Al Khalifa in first, Michael Spahn in second, Ali Al Qubaisi in third and Mohammed Saleh not too far behind in fourth. Stephan Kellogg stood in fifth as Rashid Al Jowder followed closely in sixth, leaving Faisal Raffii trailing behind in seventh place.
During the second race, very little changed, as Shaikh Salman Al Khalifa continued to battle through finishing in 14 minutes 40 seconds and 247 split seconds, only 3.788 seconds faster than Mice Spahn. The number one champion picked up the fastest lap, during the eighth lap, with a time of 1 minute, 26 seconds and 53 split seconds.
Stephen Kellogg’s car fault left him off the track for the second race, but the race continued. The final standings saw Shaikh Salman bin Isa Al Khalifa in first, Michael Spahn in second, Ali Al Qubaisi in third, Mohammed Saleh in fourth, Rashid Al Jowder in fifth and Faisal Raffii in sixth.
As part of its ongoing collaboration with the motor sports world, Batelco gave out a total of 4050 dinars to winners of the 2000CC Challenge, which it is the official sponsor to. As part of its initiative, Batelco has shown great support to the national championships, a gesture greatly appreciated by the Circuit Racing Club.
The fourth round of the National Circuit Racing Championship saw more competition in the sidelining events, both the Formula BMW Championship and the National Sprint.
The first race group for the Formula BMW saw young-gun Fahad Al Gosaibi hit first place with a time of 14 minutes, 22 seconds and 614 seconds, putting Sami Favre in second place by only 329 split seconds. As for legendary Salah Salahudin, he was left in third place whilst Alex Longden finished in fourth. In fifth was Ezra Idafar and Essa Yousif had some misfortune following the fifth lap and not finishing. Sami Favre clocked in with the tenth lap as the fastest lap which he completed in 1 minute, 10 seconds and 275 split seconds.
As for the second race group it was Doros Loucaides who came out on top. Finishing in first place with a time of 14 minutes, 37 minutes and 877 seconds, two seconds faster than Bander Alesayi. In third and not too far behind was Will Curtis, Abdulla Dandaachi stood in at fourth place, whilst Bjornar Kristensen was in fifth and Hamad Ahmed came in in last place. Loucaides recorded the fastest lap with a time of 1 minute, 12 seconds and 69 split seconds.
The National Sprint was seen running alongside the event, where tens of racers took to the tarmac, where Daniel Slabbert won the 600CC. David J. Van came out on top of the 1000CC challenge. In the car categories it was Mushal Al Sudairy who made it to first place in the A1 category. In the A2, it was Bahraini Carina Ghuloom that clinched the number one spot. As for the B1 category, Saudi Fayez Al Gosaibi finished in first, whilst Michael Spahn won the C1 category whilst Gabriella Wimmer picked up first the C2.