KHALED Alsaie scored a narrow victory in the second round of Bahrain SWS Sprint Championship at Bahrain International Karting Circuit (BIKC) in Sakhir.
Alsaie pipped fellow title hopeful Mohammed Mattar by a mere 0.008 seconds to clinch his maiden victory of the new season.
He completed the 15-lap sprint around BIKC’s 1.414km track in 18 minutes and 38.554 seconds.
Mattar claimed his second podium spot in as many races. The leading pair were trailed not far behind by Abdulla Buhindi, just 0.104 seconds behind Alsaie.
Louis Skalski (+2.571s) was fourth and Bader Mubarak (+2.964s) fifth.
Winner of the season’s opening round, Ali Baslar (+2.971s) had to settle for sixth while Ahmed Ebrahim (+3.027s) and Hussain Lala (+3.174s) rounded out the top eight.
A total of 17 karters took part in the round’s final race and only one driver did not make the classification.
Earlier in the day, Alsaie also led in the pre-final before winning in 13:36.053. He beat Buhindi by 0.216s.
During qualifying, Rashid Almuammari was the top performer with a fastest lap of one minute 13.307 seconds. Baslar was 0.061secs off the pace.
Popular
The Bahrain SWS Sprint Championship is an arrive-and-drive series, widely popular among Bahrain’s motor racing enthusiasts. It is open to karters of all skill levels and experience. Interested drivers aged 16 and above, both men and women, of any nationality are welcome to take part.
The season’s first two rounds were held during Ramadan at BIKC.
After a short summer break, round three is scheduled to take place on October 7 and round four on November 25, marking the final events of the calendar year.
The championship moves on to 2017 with round five on January 6, round six on February 17, round seven on March 24 and the eighth and final round on April 7.
SWS rounds three through eight will be held under the umbrella of Bahrain Karting Sprint Championship, which also features the Bahrain Rotax Mojo Max Championship.