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The Popeye Racing team ended on a high as they clinched their third consecutive win of the season during the sixth and final round of the Bahrain Drag Racing Championship at the Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in Sakhir.
The team, sponsored by Zain, dominated the final round to seal a third victory for American driver Rickie Smith, who holds the Middle East record of 6.144 seconds, in the 'pro mod' category
With three drivers onboard, the trio made it through the qualifiers and jumped into the semi-finals which saw Smith meet Khalid Mohammed head-on in the finals, guaranteeing them a Popeye victory. Eariler, in the semi-finals, Smith defeated Ali Aryan, whilst Mohammed defeated UAE's Ali Al Kaabi to set up the showdown.
Fans watched the fierce action on the strip from the Popeye Racing team as Smith - the latest addition to the outfit - finished with a time of 6.246 seconds, next to Khalid Mohammed's 6.390 seconds following solid performances.
In the run up to the finals, however, Smith defeated Qatar's Al Anabi team driver James Kanelopoulos with a time of 6.224 seconds, and later defeated team mate Aryan in the semi-finals with a time of 6.246 seconds.
In the meantime, Popeye's Mohammed managed to take the lead from the Emarati competition, as he defeated Khalid Al Balooshi in the quarter-finals with a time of 6.372 seconds, and made it to the final following his victory over Al Kaabi with a time of 6.347 seconds.
This was the second time that Bahrain's Popeye Racing team had two of its drivers in the final race of the round. Having seen a solid performance this season at the BIC's drag strip, the team earlier saw two of its drivers - Mohammed and Aryan - make it to the final at the Emirates' Motorplex in Umm Al Quwain, winning a first for the kingdom.
Following Popeye Racing's impressive performance, team owner Shaikh Abdulla bin Hamad Al Khalifa said that the team was well on its way to many more victories for Bahrain and proving itself as one of the top-ranking drag racing teams in the region on an international level. He stressed that each member of the team had put in more than 100 per cent into the success of the team.
