Drag racers make rousing return in season-opening round at BIC

The engines were back roaring and tyres wailing as Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) hosted the season-opening round of the 2018/2019 Bahrain Drag Racing Championship over the weekend in Sakhir.

Five of Bahrain’s leading talents emerged victorious amongst the 15 competition categories that featured on the meeting’s packed itinerary.

They included Nawaf Almanaai, Salah Salahuddin, Hussain Akber, Saad Saleh and Hamad Ahmed.

A total of 108 competitors gathered at BIC’s quarter-mile drag strip for four days of action. They came from all over the Gulf including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the UAE and host nation Bahrain.

The meeting was organised by the Bahrain Drag Racing Club (BDRC) in cooperation with BIC, the Bahrain Motor Federation and the Bahrain Motorcycle Club.

Almanaai triumphed in the Super Street 6-Cylinder class, where he defeated Mohamed Hussain from Saudi Arabia in their final run. Almanaai clocked a winning pass of 7.418 seconds while Hussain went for 11.740s. Mohammed Al Jlahma of Bahrain came third.

Salahuddin followed suit, winning in the Street V8 category. He had a final run of 7.618s, beating Kuwait’s Mohammed Suliman who had a time of 7.708s. Ali Aljoder, also of Bahrain, claimed third.

Akber won in the Outlaw 10.5 class with a time of 11.930s. Nabeel Al Isa of Saudi was the runner-up, while Khalid Ahmed Saif of Bahrain completed the podium placers.

Saleh won in the Pro Mod category. He had a time of 4.092s, beating countryman Hani Hussain who clocked a 4.162 pass. Ali Haji made it an all-Bahraini podium in third place.

Ahmed then rounded out the Bahraini victors on the evening, taking the win in the Street Fight Bikes category. He had a time of 9.496s in the final, where he defeated Abdulla Almunif of Saudi. Fadi Abu Jamus from Palestine came third.

Elsewhere in the round, Bader Dashtti of Kuwait defeated Ahmed Mohamed of Bahrain to win the Outlaw Front-Wheel-Drive category; Jassim Ali Al Ali of the UAE won the Outlaw 6-Cylinder class after beating Jassim Zaman of Kuwait in the final; and Kuwaiti Basil Abbas came out on the winning end of his head-to-head with Emirati Abdulmajed Hussain in the Competition 4.5 final.

In the Index 10.5 class, Suliman Dawood of Kuwait got the better of Bahrain’s Ali Abdulaziz to take first place. Mohamed Jawad of Saudi did the same against Bahrain’s Khalid Abdulkareem in the Index 9.5 final, and Adnan Hsisi of Kuwait beat compatriot Sayed Hussain Alhadad to win the Index 8.5 final.

Ahmed Alarrouj outrun fellow-Kuwaiti Khaled Al Fowzen to win the Street Bikes class, while Mishari Al Turki of Saudi Arabia beat Meshari Al Mari of Kuwait to claim the victory in the Super Street Bikes division.

Following all the action, the winners were awarded their prizes in a podium ceremony.

The 2018/2019 season is set to feature five rounds, to be held until early March of next year. Round two is set from December 18 to 22, followed by round three from January 15 to 19. Round four will be from February 19 to 23, and then the championship finale will be held from February 26 to March 2.