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Six sensational local drivers competed in a new single-seater support race at the Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in Sakhir at the weekend.
Red Bull’s new recruit Abdulla Al Thawadi, 17, Adeeb Kuzbar, 17, Shaikh Ali bin Al Khalifa, 17, Batelco Racing team’s Mohammed Mattar, 26, and former Bahrain resident Paul Stanley, 24, are the first from the kingdom to take part in the Formula Middle East championship, an initiative led by the BIC in partnership with Motorsport Asia to showcase a new opportunity for aspiring talent in the region.
The 12-man competition was topped by Briton Emil Bernstorff in an exhibition race before Formula One action took to the track.
Bernstorff claimed the chequered flag with a 13.1 second gap ahead of his closest challenger, Frenchman Alban Varutti of Batelco Racing. Third place was clinched by the only female driver, Michela Cerruti, 13.445 seconds behind the victor.
Stanley, currently based in the UK is a former St Christopher’s School student, has family still living in Saar. He finished fifth, 15.876 seconds back.
Stanley, sponsored in this race by Al Hilal Computer Services, Ahmed Karimi, Ali Ansari and Arabian Marinas, took the opportunity to enhance his motor racing career by gaining big time racing experience.
He said: “I will definitely be moving back to Bahrain now that they have the Formula Middle East coming into play. It’s good racing experience for me. The more races I have the better my CV looks to help promote me to sponsors for the future and to achieve my F1 dreams.”
Stanley, who clinched the title in the Max class of the Bahrain Rotax Mojo Max Championship in 2012, had raced alongside the current Rotax champion Kuzbar, a student at Bahrain Bayan School, and the first Bahraini to join Red Bull, Al Thawadi.
Al Thawadi, also a student in Bahrain Bayan School, took eighth spot with 24.966 seconds and Kuzbar right behind him with 31.121 seconds.
Kuzbar said: “I have done a lot of karting in terms of taking part in international events and world-wide championships. Now, I am thinking of moving into circuit racing single-seaters and more into GT cars.”
Meanwhile, Mattar took seventh with 22.639 seconds and Al Khalifa was 11th with 62.730 seconds.
Al Khalifa said: “I raced one round of Formula Middle East at the end of January, which was like a test run for us and this was my second round.”
GP2 Series was the other F1 weekend support race and was topped by Sam Bird, a Briton who races for Russian Time. He completed the 23-lap event in a total time of 41 minutes 08.133 seconds, while Brazilian ace Felipe Nasr was a close runner-up for Carlin.
Stefano Coletti from Monaco secured the final podium step. The Rapax driver finished 4.206 seconds behind the victor.
The next round of the 2013 GP2 Series will be held in Barcelona, Spain, from May 10 to 12.
