MANAMA: Team Bahrain’s leading duo of Salman bin Rashid Al Khalifa and Mohammed Mattar are looking to return to the top six in Race 2 after missing the opportunity of valuable points in the opening encounter at the Losail International which was won by Clemens Schmid of Al Nabooda Racing.
Starting ninth on the 17-car grid, Al Khalifa was involved in a tight and gritty midfield battle alongside his team-mate Mattar. Despite moving up a number of positions throughout the race the talented pair could not find the extra pace to break back into the top six with the former champion Al Khalifa finishing seventh and Mattar eighth.
“It was a very tight affair with a lot of positions changing on a regular basis and frantic overtaking. I moved up three positions but with it being such a tough grid, I was in a constant struggle again the impressive Skydive Dubai Falcons duo. Hopefully in the second we can get a better qualifying time and start the race positively and be in the reckoning for a top six finish. We can do better and we’ll keep pushing hard,” Looking ahead after an incident-packed race, Al Khalifa said.
Schmid, who has been in consistent form all season, collected maximum points after his main title contender Zaid Ashkanani of Kuwait suffered a 20second penalty for a jump start while on pole position.
Despite crossing the finish line in first place the unfortunate Ashkanani paid the price for his mistake on the start grid, falling back to fourth position with the time penalty imposed and gifting the 5th race win of the season to a grateful Schmid. Former champion Abdulaziz AlFaisal of Saudi Falcons was promoted to second and Saudi Arabia’s Fahad Algosaibi completed the podium positions in third.
The result sees Schmid extend his lead in the championship to thirty-three (33) points. In a sporting gesture after the race win, reigning champion Schmid said: “The real winner today was Zaid Ashkanani but motorsport can be cruel. Luck has gone my way and I am very pleased to have got maximum points for Al Nabooda Racing. It was an unfortunate error from Zaid and it can happen to any driver. He wanted to get off to a good start. I’m just pleased to have extended my lead in the championship with a solid drive. It’s the result I wanted as I move further ahead at a critical time in the season.”
The most intense battle for points and track position saw five cars in the thick of the action. Saudi’s Algosaibi, Skydive Dubai Falcons duo of Sheikh Hasher Al Maktoum and Saeed Al Mehairi and Team Bahrain’s former champion Salman bin Rashid Al Khalifa and Mohammed Matter were all involved in a number of fierce nip and tuck exchanges with daring overtaking manoeuvres.
Starting fifth on the grid, Algosaibi immediately gained ground on those ahead of him on the grid and moved into fourth place in the first lap, overtaking Frijns, who fell down the pecking order. From there he was under immense pressure from Hasher Al Maktoum and Al Mehairi. Despite positions changing regularly throughout the race, Algosaibi managed to keep his nerve to claim third.
Al Mehairi and Hasher Al Maktoum, who started sixth and seventh respectively on the grid eventually kept their positions at the chequered flag and kept the Bahrain team at bay.
For local motorsport fans that turned out in their thousands to witness the Porsche debut of Qatari hero Nasser bin Saleh Al Attiyah for Team QMMF it was a proud night. The Olympic medallist and Dakar Rally champion best known for his outstanding rallying career proved his natural racing ability extends to the track as he took to the podium. Al Attiyah’s first Porsche GT3 race experience saw the legend win the Silver Michelin category in impressive fashion, finishing a very credible 11th overall.