Championship series added to programme

Leading touring car championship, the TCR International Series, has been added to the support race programme of the 2017 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix.

TCR will be backing the Formula 1 extravaganza in Sakhir for the second year in a row come April 14 to 16.

The weekend’s support programme now features a pair of top-class international series, namely the FIA Formula 2 Championship and TCR, to go along with the leading one-make regional championship, the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East.

TCR will be holding the second of 10 rounds in its 2017 season at Bahrain.

The championship kicked off last Saturday and Sunday at Rustavi International Motorpark in Tbilisi, Georgia, which was won by home favourite Davit Kajaia. He said: “I am more than happy, it is so great to win my first race here at home. The race was very tough. My start was good and I could build some gap, but as from lap 6, my front tyres started to suffer and then I had to fight to keep ahead.”

Ferenc Ficza came in second with Stefano Comini in third.

The rest of the campaign will see events in Spa (Belgium), Monza (Italy), Salzburgring (Austria), Budapest (Hungary), Oschersleben (Germany), Sochi (Russia), Buriram (Thailand), Zhejiang (China), and Yas Marina Circuit (Abu Dhabi).

There are 13 teams competing this season, led by defending champions Lukoil Craft-Bamboo Racing. Now in its third year, TCR International Series was conceived and launched by Marcello Lotti, the man who revived the FIA World Touring Car Championship back in 2005. He envisioned a new class that could fill a gap at the bottom of the Touring Car pyramid, one that was affordable for car manufacturers and independent teams alike and was capable of offering close and exciting races.

Seven leading brands of car manufacturers are represented at in the series’ races – Audi, Volkswagen, Honda, SEAT, Alfa Romeo, Opel and Kia.

The addition of the TCR International Series to this year’s Bahrain Grand Prix support race programme adds to the many attractions already lined up for this year’s Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix.

Tickets to the highly anticipated race weekend cost BD150 apiece for the Main Grandstand and BD120 for the Batelco Grandstand. For the Turn One Grandstand, they are BD100 each, while tickets for both the University Grandstands and Victory Grandstand are BD60 apiece.

Children aged three to 12 years old can get tickets for half the price, while entry is free of charge for those below three years old.

For more information call the BIC Hotline on 17450000.