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Shaikh Salman bin Isa bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa and Ahmed Almuyini dominated their respective series in an eventful third round of National Race Day, held at the 2.55-kilometre Inner Track of the Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in Sakhir.
Shaikh Salman set the pace in practice, captured pole position and then won both races in the BIC 2,000cc Challenge; while Almuyini also nearly posted a perfect weekend en route to claiming both sprints in the Bahrain Motorcycle Racing (BMR) 600.
In the 2,000cc Challenge, Shaikh Salman made no mistake in the opening 12-lap sprint, leading from pole to the chequered flag and winning in a total time of 19:05.937.
Nasser Al Alawi in a Honda S2000 finished as the runner-up 1.050s behind. He started from fourth but had a strong start and was quickly able to move up one position before capturing second place on lap seven.
Ahmed bin Khanen, also driving a Civic, finished third after trailing the leaders for virtually the entire race. He was classified 3.079s behind Shaikh Salman.
Rounding out the top six in the series’ Pro class, were Raed Raffii in another S2000, Tareq Al Tajer in a Ford Focus and Abdulla Al Qaoud in a Civic.
In race two, Shaikh Salman was quickly back in the lead by the third lap. He coasted to the finish the rest of the way to win in 15:47.196. Al Alawi was the runner-up once again but was this time 4.687s behind. He dropped all the way to fifth with three laps to go but was able to battle back towards the end to gain his place on the podium.
Raffii took third 5.617s back following a close fight with Al Alawi. In fourth was Al Tajer, bin Khanen came fifth and Al Qaoud finished sixth.
Meanwhile, Almuyini had a near-perfect day in the BMR 600. He gained the lead on lap three and cruised to the finish, winning by 6.152s ahead of Adiby. Sa’ad Al Hazza riding another ZX6R came third a distant 31.274s behind, while the top six was rounded out by Ibrahim Alsharida (ZX6R), Mohammed Alsadiq (Triumph 675) and Mohammed Redha (ZX6R).
In race two, Almuyini was a winner ahead of Adiby and Hazza. Alsharida was fourth, Alsadiq fifth and Redha sixth.
Almuyini also clocked both fastest laps, registering a time of 1:09.619 in race one and then 1:09.642 in race two.
National Race Day returns for the fourth round of the 2019/2020 season on January 10.
