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The region’s most popular one-make racing series is getting all geared up to support motorsport’s top flight at the 2016 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix.
The Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East will be taking to the track at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in Sakhir from April 1 to 3 as part of the racing programme at the weekend.
The professionally run one-make series, which calls BIC its home, will be holding an exhibition round to back Formula 1.
With the 2015/2016 season wrapping up recently, the participating drivers will have the freedom to push and take chances, which would make for some very exciting and unpredictable racing.
Jeffrey Schmidt was crowned the series’ new champion and he is expected to spearhead the field of drivers who will be making the most of this chance to showcase their skills in front of an international audience.
His chief title rivals, namely Zaid Ashkanani, Ryan Cullen and Prince Abdulaziz Al Faisal are also expected to join the fray, ensuring that the exhibition features some of the championship’s top contenders from this past season.
Also expected to take part are Charlie Frijns, Prince Saud Al Faisal (Al Faisal Racing), Wolfgang Triller (TriSpa Racing) of Germany and Bahrain’s very own Shaikh Jaber bin Ali Al Khalifa, to name but a few. Each of the drivers will be competing in identical Porsche GT3 Cup Cars 991.
The Grand Prix weekend will feature two exhibition races, one each on Saturday and Sunday. Each will be held over 10 laps or 25 minutes around BIC’s 5.412km grand prix track.
A practice session is scheduled for Friday and qualifying for early on Saturday to determine the grid for the opening sprint.
Meanwhile, Bahraini champion Shaikh Hamad bin Isa bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa and Slovak driver Stefan Rosina have become the latest additions to the start list of the Porsche GT3 Cup.
Rosina has appeared in many highly competitive series such as the FIA GT1 World Championship and the Porsche Supercup. He will enjoy being up against the series’ top competitors in the Gold class, like Schmidt
Shaikh Hamad is set to compete in the Porsche GT3 Cup’s Bronze category, where Shaikh Jaber is the reigning champion. Other bronze category drivers are Dutchman Rob Frijns (Frijns Structural Steel ME), Swede Magnus Ohman (Mtech) and Turk Cengiz Oguzhan (ATA Freight Line).
Some Silver class drivers will also be looking to mix things up. They include Team Bahrain’s rising talent Shaikh Isa bin Abdulla Al Khalifa and Faisal Bin Laden (Saudi Falcons) of Saudi Arabia.
