Night of winners

Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) hosted its End-of-Season Awards Night over the weekend and honoured the newly-crowned champions of the 2018/2019 national racing season.

 Among the awardees were the winners in the BIC 2,000cc Challenge, the Bahrain Karting Sprint Championship (BKSC) and the Bahrain Karting Endurance Championship (BKEC).

BIC Chief Executive Shaikh Salman bin Isa Al Khalifa was on hand to present the prizes. Also in attendance were other high-ranking officials from the BIC, Bahrain International Karting Circuit, Bahrain Motor Federation and Circuit Racing Club.

Shaikh Salman handed over the prized trophy to Tareq Al Tajer for becoming the undisputed champion of the BIC 2,000cc Challenge. Al Tajer claimed his first-ever title in the series.

He also awarded Shaikh Salman bin Isa bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa and Ahmed bin Khanen for finishing second and third, respectively. Mohamed Faqihi, Majed Himmo and Giovanni Salerno also took home prizes for finishing in the top six overall.

The top three also had separate trophies presented to them for ending the season first through third in the championship’s Pro class; while Himmo, Salerno and Martyna Al Qassab were honoured for being the best three in the Novice category.

Shaikh Salman bin Isa bin Ebrahim had a pair of additional awards. During the season, he posted the 2,000cc Challenge’s Fastest Lap and also clinched the Most Pole Positions accolade.

Meanwhile, in the BKSC, Shaikh Salman awarded the winners in the two categories that make up the championship, namely the Bahrain Rotax Mojo Max Challenge (BRMMC) and the Bahrain Sprint Sodi World Series (BSSWS).

In the BRMMC, Luca Kane Houghton was presented with the champion’s trophy in the Micro class, where he won ahead of runner-up Gracie Rose Grantham and third-placer Louis Elnabulsi.

Santhosh Kumar was presented the winner’s trophy in the Mini category ahead of Matteo Quintarelli and Jacob Topp.

Fahad Alkhaled was victorious in the Junior class where Fahad Almuqla came second and Omar Aldereyaan was third.

Mohammed Mattar was the champion in the BRMMC’s Max category after a tough battle with Raed Raffii and Hussain Hasan.

Essa Aldossary claimed the title in the Max Masters class, while Fred Clark was second and Osama Azoouka third.

Amongst the teams’ championships, Absolute Racing took three out of five titles, winning in the Micro, Mini and Max categories. Dojomoto Racing triumphed in the Juniors class and ED Racing Team in the Max Masters.

Along with their individual championships, the BRMMC’s winners also won entries to compete in prestigious karting events in Europe in the coming months.

Houghton, Kumar, Alkhaled and Raffii all won seats in the Rotax Max Challenge International Trophy, set to take place August 20-29 in Le Mans, France. Mattar, on the other hand, earned a berth in the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals, scheduled for October 19-26 in Sarno, Italy.

In the BSSWS, Shaikh Salman presented Ali Baslar the trophy for being the season’s champion. Abdulla Buhinid finished in second place while Rashid Almuammari came third.

Finally, Shaikh Salman honoured the winners in the BKEC and handed over their trophies. Racing Bahrain were the overall champions featuring Mattar, Khaled Alsaei, Khaled Alrayes and Durate Lopes.

Go Bahrain were second with Raffii, Buhindi, Baslar and Almuammari. Bapco Sadeem came third featuring Osama Albuflasa, Faisal Alshadii, Abdulla Althawadi, Talal Beshara and Mohammed Jalal.

Racing Bahrain were also first in the Pro class, ahead of Bapco Sadeem and BeeSa Racing. BeeSa featured Paul Lecaillon, Bader Mubarak, Khaled Alzayed and Azoouka.

Bapco Motorsport were the champions of the Corporate class. They were composed of Saud Alshreedi, Isa Mahmood, Khalifa Alzayani and Abdulrahman Alawadi. Ithmaar Bank were second with Baslar and Khalid Alwazzan. Redline Racing came third featuring Oleg Kazakov and Paul Morris.

Shaikh Salman also presented the winners of the Nations category. Go Bahrain were champions, followed by Racing Bahrain Junior who included Hussain Hasan, Khalifa Alyaqoobi, Mohammed Ameen and Khaled Alwazzan in the line-up. Bapco Lubes came third in class with Jalal, Beshara and Mohammed Baharna behind the wheel.

Following all the trophy presentations, those in attendance were treated to a sumptuous meal at BIC.

The new national racing season gets underway later this year.