Al Nabooda Racing’s Clemens Schmid secured his second win of the weekend at the opening round of the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East at Bahrain International Circuit yesterday.
Following on from his second place finish in Race 1, Skydive Dubai Falcons’ Sheikh Hasher Al Maktoum finished a strong fourth. Race 2 was a more controlled affair with Schmid, Kuwait’s Zaid Ashkanani, Charlie Frijns and Al Maktoum all finishing as they started.
The star of the show though was Omani Ahmad Al Harthy, who worked his way up from 14th to finish sixth and secure vital team points for Al Nabooda Racing.
After leading from start to finish, Schmid said: “Obviously I am very happy – it’s been a great weekend. I had a good start and was able to keep Zaid behind as we got to turn one.”
As the lights went out, the cars bolted into action with Al Harthy powering up to 8th position within the first few corners. The Omani looked determined but controlled as he fought to close the gap on the race leaders.
As the race wore on, the action shifted to the middle of the pack where Saudi Arabia’s Bandar Aleyasi squeezed past Skydive Dubai’s Saeed Al Mehairi to take fifth place and Al Harthy passed Wolfgang Triller for seventh.
From there the Omani driver had his sights set on Al Mehairi and piled pressure on the Emirati driver. Speaking after the race, Al Maktoum said: “It’s been a very enjoyable weekend that is for sure. For me, the race was not as eventful as yesterday but there is always variety in motor racing so it is important to perform well and adapt to the racing conditions.”
Showing real class in the opening and middle of stages of the battle were Team Bahrain, who worked their way up the field after a disappointing showing in qualifying.
Mohammed Mattar picked his moment perfectly to pass Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed Jawa while Mattar’s Bahraini team-mate Raed Raffi pushed up to eighth at the expense of Triller.
As the final laps approached, the drivers all struggled to find grip as their tyres wore down.
The big winner of the latter stages was Al Harthy, who saw an opportunity to pass Al Mehairi into sixth.
The race came to an end with Ashkanani reacting strongly to Charlie Frijns’ assault on his position. Despite a late surge, Ashkanani was unable to close the gap on Schmid.
Regarded as the purest form of racing with all drivers competing in identical fifth generation Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, the unique one-make series consists of 12 races over six rounds between November 2014 and April 2015.
The championship will return to Bahrain for the final round of the series.
The sixth season is expected to form part of the official race weekend schedule to support the 2015 Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix in April 2015.
The second round will be held in Dubai next month.
