Batelco Racing eked out an exciting victory in an action-packed second round of the 2015/2016 Bahrain SWS Endurance Championship, held under floodlights at Bahrain International Karting Circuit (BIKC) in Sakhir.
Mohammed Mattar and Khaled Alsaie came away with the narrowest of wins for Batelco. They finished the three-hour event a mere 0.095 seconds ahead of sister team and runners-up Batelco Racing Mechanics, who comprised Ali Baslar and Abdulla Buhindi.
Both teams completed the endurance challenge with 137 laps apiece, but it was Mattar and Alsaie who enjoyed the slimmest of leads at the chequered flag.
In third place overall were the Zain Racing tandem of Raed Raffii and Saeed Al Mehairi. They completed the race just a single lap behind while claiming the final podium step in the overall classification.
The result made it a perfect two-for-two for Batelco Racing so far in the national endurance series. They previously won round one held in November last year at BIKC, and are now heavy favourites to secure a clean sweep of the championship when it holds its third and final round next month, which will be a 24-hour event.
The race took place with a record number of 27 teams taking part – the most for any SWS endurance race at BIKC. Teams were composed of a minimum of two and a maximum of four drivers, and they raced in identical 13-horsepower RT8 Sodikarts.
Aside from the overall top three, competition was fierce for positioning in the three different race classes.
Mattar and Alsaie also managed to steer Batelco Racing to first place in the Professional category. Zain’s Raffii and Al Mehairi were second, while Mahla EKT featuring pro Emirati karter Ramez Azzam and promising Bahraini youngster Hussain Hassan claimed third.
In the Nationals class, Batelco Racing Mechanics’ Baslar and Buhindi teamed up for the win. The Zain Dangerous pair of Essa Al Kooheji and Khalifa Al Yaqoubi followed, while in third were the ANL Racing trio of Alex Longden, Neil Harris and Lee Stones.
The Corporate category, which had 15 teams vying for the podium, was won by Menascope Ice Racing’s Ali Dadi and Qamar Saleem. BISB Menascope’s Mohammed Al Waery and Ahmed Al Kooheji were the runners-up, while the BBK Racing duo of Faisal Al Shafie and Nasser Al Alawi were third.
Also rising to the occasion were the Mahla Angels team. They won the women’s category and were comprised of Shatha Alzadjali, Reem Al Qatani, Amani Al Tublani and Rana Fathalla.
The championship finale is scheduled for March 11 and 12 at BIKC.
For details, visit www.bahrain-karting.com or call the BIKC on +973-1745-1745.