BIC lines up stellar support race programme for FIA WEC Bapco 8 Hours of Bahrain

The FIA WEC Bapco 8 Hours of Bahrain is set to feature a spectacular support race programme that includes a pair of the biggest and most professionally run championships in both the region and in Asia.

Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) has lined up both the Porsche Sprint Challenge Middle East and the MRF Challenge along with the WEC to ensure non-stop racing excitement.

“The Home of Motorsport in the Middle East” hosts the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) spectacle together for the first time with this year’s BIC National Day Festival, making for plenty to look forward to both on and off the track.

The four-day event will take place from December 13 to 16 in Sakhir. The WEC and National Day attractions will be open to the public from December 13, with WEC running for two days and the National Day celebrations continuing until December 16.

The Porsche Sprint Challenge Middle East is the region’s most professional and most successful one-make GT series and it will be holding the opening round of its 2019/2020 season at BIC. The MRF Challenge, meanwhile, is India’s only FIA-inscribed championship and one of Asia’s premier single-seater competitions. It will be staging its second of three rounds in 2019/2020 in support of the WEC.

Tickets to the event can be purchased today at the BIC stand in Bahrain City Centre, online at the circuit’s official website www.bahraingp.com, or by calling the BIC Hotline on +973-17-450000. They will also be available at the gate on the days of the race weekend. Tickets cost BD1 per person, per day.

The Porsche Sprint Challenge Middle East is powered by motorsport experts Lechner Racing, headed by Austrian racing legend Walter Lechner and based at BIC.

The series offers an ideal platform for talented circuit racing drivers to broaden their racing experience on the region’s most appealing race tracks.

Based on the highly successful Porsche formula for one-make series, the challenge gives every driver an equal chance to compete, as they race in identically constructed Porsche GT3 Cup cars type 991.2.

The arrive-and-drive championship not only aims to harness young talents but it also gives gentlemen drivers the opportunity to combine their passion for motorsport with their daily routines and compete in their own category.

The inaugural season was held in 2009/2010 and the upcoming campaign will be the series’ 11th and it promises to be one of the most exciting yet.

The season-opening meeting supporting the WEC is set to feature three races over the course of the race weekend. Drivers this season will once again hail from as many as a dozen different nations across four continents, including Asia, Europe, America and Africa, making for a truly international line-up.

The MRF Challenge has proven to be a great platform for racing aspirants looking to not just keep themselves in competitive trim during the European off-season, but also bolster their racing credentials.

Over the years, the MRF Challenge has featured quite a few high-profile racers like Mick Schumacher, son of seven-time Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher; Harrison Newey, son of Formula 1 design guru Adrian Newey; Manuel Maldonado, cousin of former Formula 1 driver Pastor Maldonado; female Formula 1 test driver with Alfa Romeo Racing Tatiana Calderon; and last season’s champion Jamie Chadwick, who is also the first-ever champion of the W Series and the first-ever lady driver to win an international race at Bahrain International Circuit.

The championship has called BIC one of the top destinations of its annual racing calendar, with regular races featuring at “The Home of Motorsport in the Middle East” over the past few years.