BIC, Sakhir – Veteran American driver Gary White and Saudi motorcyclist Mashari Al-Turki were all smiles last weekend, after both set new world records in their respective categories at the fifth round of Bahrain International Circuit’s 2012-2013 Bahrain Drag Racing Championship.
The three-day event at BIC saw 62 cars battling it out for leadership of the championship’s nine car sub-divisions while about 20 bikes fought for supremacy in the three motorcycle sub-divisions.
White set the record for the fastest six-cylinder Outlaw in the Outlaw RWD category, with an End Timing of 6.23 seconds, ahead of Bahraini’s Ebrahim Kanoo, Yousif Alzayani and Hamad Haji.
In the Street FWD RWD group, Bahraini Adel Hassan Mohammed clocked an ET of 9.768s ahead of Saudi Akram Khalil and fellow Bahraini Ahmed Faisal. Adel Salem’s ET of 9.277s placed him at the top of the Super Street Outlaw FWD category. The Emirati saw off competition from Bahrain’s Ali Ahmed, Kuwait’s Bader Dashti and Bahraini Ibrahim Mubarak.
Bahrainis shone in the Super Street RWD group, with Mohammed Almurbarti clocking an ET of 64.999s, ahead of compatriots Ahmed Al-Balooshi, Yahya Saeed and Salman Mahmood. The Street V8 category saw Bahraini Salah Salahuddin get an ET of 8.455s, beating fellow Bahraini Khalid Abdulkareem and Saudi Wajdey Tarseen.
Meanwhile, Talal Bin Eidan of Kuwait had an ET of 7.357s, in the Super Street V8 category, which was enough to beat Bahraini Saad Al-Muran and A. Aziz Al-Rashed of Saudi Arabia. The Competition 7.5 group saw Ali Haji record an ET of 7.538s, ahead of fellow Bahrainis Mohammed Salama and Hussain Mohammed as well as Salim Naser of Kuwait.
Kuwait’s Jassim Al-Muqahwe took the honors in the Outlaw 10.5 division, with an ET of 7.230s, ahead of Bahrain’s Mishal Abdul Kareem and Kuwait’s Abdulla Alsoory. In the Pro Mod category, Abdulla Al-Suri of Kuwait clocked an ET of 6.557s to beat Khalid Mohammed and Tariq Hadi, both from Bahrain.
Mohammed Salama, meanwhile, was eager to iron out issues that he said, cost him first place. “Compared to the test and tune, the weather was a bit different on Friday and we were a bit late on the tree by just fractions of seconds,” he said.
Mashari Al-Turki’s ET of 6.8s, was declared a world record in the Super Street Bike group. The Saudi, riding a Suzuki Turbo, saw off competition from Kuwaitis Yacoub Al Ali and Bader Bin Edan.
It was an all-Kuwaiti affair in the Street Bike category, with Mesfer Mubarak clocking an ET of 8.246s, ahead of compatriots Bader Bin Edan, Mohammed Burashid and Meshari Al Otabi. Meanwhile, Kuwait’s Mohammed Yagot recorded an ET of 64.999s in the Pro Bike category, to beat Mohammed Burashid of Kuwait and Ahmed N of Saudi Arabia.
BDRC President Fahad Taqi underlined the role of BIC in making every round of the drag a success, and said that the work it put into the event often went unnoticed.
The sixth and final round of the 2012-2013 Bahrain Drag Racing Championships takes place on May 1-3 at the circuit in Sakhir. The events are being organized in cooperation with BIC, the Bahrain Motor Federation, the Bahrain Drag Racing Club (BDRC) and the Circuit Racing Club. — SG