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Ebrahim, Buelow take a victory apiece under lights in Bahrain Touring Car Challenge second round
Ebrahim, Buelow take a victory apiece under lights in Bahrain Touring Car Challenge second round
- Al Zaidan, Al Tourah triumph in their respective classes in Bahrain Motorcycle Championship, held as part of National Race Day programme at BIC
Isa Ebrahim and Andreas Buelow shared the spoils in the second round of the 2024-25 Bahrain Touring Car Challenge (BTCC), held under lights as part of National Race Day last weekend at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in Sakhir.
Mohammed Al Zaidan and Saud Al Tourah also had reason to celebrate. They were both victorious in their respective classes in round two of the 2024-25 Bahrain Motorcycle Championship (BMC).
The weekend’s night racing events were held along the 2.55-kilometre Inner Track at ‘The Home of Motorsport in the Middle East’.
National Race Day was organised by BIC in cooperation with the Bahrain Motor Federation, the Circuit Racing Commission, the Bahrain Motorcycle Commission, and the Motorsport Marshals Club.
Moaaz Elzahrawi kicked things off in the BTCC by topping the practice timesheet in his Honda Civic challenger with a top lap of one minute 19.207 seconds. Ebrahim then took charge in qualifying, securing pole position for race one with a best time of 1:18.825.
Ebrahim capitalised on his leading grid position to claim the victory in the opening 15-lap race, which had to be paused due to an incident on track involving Elzahrawi, who had started alongside Ebrahim on row one.
Ebrahim continued from where he left off and powered to the chequered flag in his Honda Civic with a winning time of one hour four minutes 52.505 seconds. He finished 3.167 seconds ahead of Buelow, while Ali Baqer came third 1:08.687s back, both also in Honda Civics.
In race two, Hamad Khamis was on pole in his Honda Civic following the reverse grid rule, but at the start, Baqer had a quick getaway and managed to take the lead into turn one.
It didn’t take long, however, for Buelow to seize the advantage midway through the opening lap, and he held on the rest of the way while building a sizable gap of more than half-a-minute at the finish. Buelow’s winning race time was 20:31.740 while Baqer was the runner-up 34.696s behind. Khamis completed the podium placers a lap back.
Meanwhile, in the BMC, Al Zaidan in a Kawasaki ZX6 set the pace in practice with a time of 1:12.794 in the 600cc category, while Nawaf Al Shuaibi in a Suzuki 1000 SXR led the 1,000cc class with a lap of 1:15.822.
In qualifying, Ali Boushehri took overall pole with a lap of 1:10.781 in his Honda CBR 600RR while also being in front of the 600cc class. Al Tourah was the leader amongst the 1,000cc contenders with a lap of 1:12.279.
In the meeting’s single 14-lap race, Al Zaidan was the overall winner in 16:52.845. He was joined on the 600cc podium by Boushehri, who was 9.856s behind, and Saif Al Buainain in a Yamaha R6, who finished third with a 54.983s gap from the victor.
Al Tourah won the 1,000cc class in 17:16.888. Hassan Al Awadhi was the runner-up 27.376s behind in his Yamaha R1, while Fahed Al Hashash in a Suzuki GSXR took third a lap behind.
Following all the action, the winners in both the BTCC and BMC were awarded their respective trophies during the podium ceremonies attended by officials.
Seven rounds of National Race Day are scheduled to take place this 2024/2025 season, to be held all the way through to May.
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