A third place finish in the last round of the 5th Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East for Kuwaiti teenager Zaid Ashkanani to seal the title at the Bahrain International Circuit on Saturday.
The dramatic final race of season saw Al Nabooda Racing win the team title after Clemens Schmid secured a comfortable win, but it was not enough for him to defend his title. Charlie Frijns finished behind Ashkanani in second.
For Skydive Dubai Falcons Race 2 was a mixed bag with Sheikh Hasher Al Maktoum unable to start, while team-mate Saeed Al Mehairi drove with confidence to finish sixth after starting eighth.
Skydive Dubai finished third overall team standings while in the drivers’ title race Sheikh Hasher and Al Mehairi finished joint fifth.
On a day in which Schmid knew victory in Race 2 would give him his best chance of defending his title, the Al Nabooda Racing star pushed his car to the limit in qualifying and secured pole position.
The race was interrupted after the initial start following an ontrack incident and began with a rolling start where Schmid held pole and Ashkanani fifth.
Schmid made full use of his advantage to extend the gap between himself and the rest of field to win Race 2 by 4.393 seconds with Frijns also maintaining a substantial distance between himself and the next driver.
Schmid said: “Obviously I am disappointed as I wanted to be drivers’ champion. I have worked hard all season to secure victory and to lose by just one point is extremely hard to take.
“I have some consolation in Al Nabooda Racing taking home the team title. As a group we have put in a huge amount of effort across 12 races and it’s great that we once again have the trophy for the cabinet.”
Skydive Dubai’s Al Mehairi said: “Our first season in the competition has been filled with some great highs and to finish as the third best team in a hugely competitive series gives us a platform on which we hope to build.
“I was happy to move up to finish sixth in what was a very tense battle. Concentration and focus was the key again today as errors can be extremely costly.”
FINAL DRIVERS STANDINGS
1. Zaid Ashkanani – 245pts
2. Clemens Schmid – 244
3. Abdulaziz Al Faisal – 224
4. Karim Al Azhari – 186
5. Hasher Al Maktoum – 181
= Saeed Al Mehairi – 181
FINAL TEAM STANDINGS
1. Al Nabooda Racing – 426pts
2. Saudi Falcons – 361
3. Skydive Dubai Falcons – 359
