Nasser al-Attiyah powers to 6th consecutive win

Sports Reporter/Manama

Starting tenth on the 20-car grid, Nasser al-Attiyah made a solid start on the intense 2.5643km track and fought past Team Bahrain’s Salman bin Rashid al-Khalifa in what was an extremely tight contest. The race was eventually won by season four winner Clemens Schmid of Al Nabooda Racing who lost his title to Kuwait’s Zaid Ashkanani by just one point. The result means al-Attiyah finishes a hugely impressive third overall in the Silver Michelin Category after only joining the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East series at the halfway stage.

Speaking after Race 2 of Round 6 on the Bahrain International Circuit, Nasser al-Attiyah said: “It was a fantastic result for the whole QMMF team today and we are absolutely delighted. It was another incredible race in what is a hugely competitive series. The standards are high and we have had to push to win our silverware. Coming in half way through the series as we did was always going to be an uphill battle but together we have managed to produce some strong results and gave ourselves every opportunity to be victorious. “We will celebrate tonight and enjoy the company of the region’s top racing drivers but afterwards we will spend a good bit of time analysing our performances as that is how you improve, through hard work.”

Race 2 in Round 6 was interrupted after the initial start following an on-track incident and began with 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 Charlie Frijns also maintaining a substantial distance between himself and the next driver. The real-battle was for third place and delivered the fight of the season between Ashkanani, Karim al-Azhari and Abdulaziz al-Faisal. Al Nabooda Racing’s Al-Azhari initially took control of the spot despite being bumper-to-bumper with Ashkanani in the opening laps. Then Saudi Falcons Al-Faisal pounced on a mistake by Al-Azhari to overtake the UAE-driver into third. But he never had full control of the position and was under constant pressure from Ashkanani.

At the mid-point of the race, Ashkanani, Al-Azhari and Al-Faisal were neck-and-neck going into the first corner and the decisive moment of the race was to unfold. The Kuwaiti teenager was sandwiched between his adversaries but kept his composure to break free and take full control of third and the challenge title.

In the team category Clemens Schmid and Karim Al Azhari’s impressive form over the season means Al Nabooda Racing were victorious in the team title ahead of Saudi Falcons and Skydive Dubai Falcons.

 In the Silver Michelin category Antonia Giancola emerged as the overall winner.