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Bahrain International Karting Circuit (BIKC) hosted an action-packed opening round in the 2014/2015 Sodi Sprint W Series (SSWS), with three of the kingdom’s most talented karters claiming a victory apiece.
Abdulla Buhindi, Khalid Alsaei and Ali Abdulla were all triumphant in the first of eight rounds in the all-new championship campaign.
Young Abdulla Al Thawadi also had a positive evening, finishing on the podium in each of the meeting’s three races.
All the action was held along BIKC’s 1.414-kilometre Commission Internationale de Karting (CIK) Track.
The SSWS is the arrive-and-drive category of the Bahrain Karting Sprints Championship (BKSC), which also features the Bahrain Rotax Mojo Max Championship (BRMMC). The BRMMC is for Rotax kart owners, and its season is scheduled to begin later this year.
Buhindi claimed the victory in the SSWS opener, completing the 13-lap sprint in a total time of 16mins 11.530secs. He was a mere 0.620s ahead of runner-up Hussain Umid Ali, while Al Thawadi finished in third place for his first podium of the evening 0.764s back.
Umid Ali clocked race one’s fastest lap of 1min 13.631secs.
In race two, it was Alsaei’s turn to celebrate, finishing the race in 16mins 07.398secs. Alsaei snatched the victory by the narrowest of margins against a battling Buhindi, who was denied a fine double by just 0.011s.
Al Thawadi claimed third place after completing the sprint 5.685s behind.
Buhindi registered the second race’s quickest time, running the CIK Track in 1min 13.902secs.
The last race of the day was won by a hard-charging Ali Abdulla, who had to fend off some tough competition all the way to the chequered flag before finishing with a total race time of 16mins 07.183secs.
Faqihi finished narrowly behind clocking a mark just 0.099s slower, while taking the final podium spot of the night was Al Thawadi 0.304s behind. Faqihi had race three’s best lap time of 1min 13.531secs, which was also the quickest of the round.
The winners were presented their respective prizes in a podium ceremony attended by officials from Bahrain International Circuit (BIC), BIKC, Bahrain Karting Club and the Bahrain Motor Federation. The season-opener is set to be followed by round two this weekend, scheduled for Saturday at BIKC.
