based driver Charlie Frijns has won the second race of Season 8 of the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East thanks to a composed drive from pole position at the Bahrain International Circuit. Saudi Arabia's Bandar Alesayi also managed a successful first round with back to back wins over the two opening races in the silver category thanks to consecutive six place finishes. Mohammed Al Saud the second driver from Saudi Arabia showed encouraging signs over his debut race weekend, improving with each lap on the track. After starting the second race in 17th the debutant improved to 13th overall and narrowly missed the podium in the Bronze category. Speaking after the second race Alesayi said: "I am very pleased with my overall performance this weekend. I pushed as hard as possible in both races but still feel like I can get even closer to the guys in front. "The competition is very high this season and I feel like I have already raised my game knowing how many talented drivers there are to compete with. I will continue to work hard and hopefully close the gap even further in round 2 in Dubai." After the second of twelve races in the season Bandar Alesayi is now leading the silver category and sits in 6th place in the overall championship. Al Saud showed even more progress in his second ever race in the championship seeing off some immense pressure from Bahrain's Hamad Al Khalifa and overtaking seasoned driver Rob Frijns early on. Mohammad Al Saud said: "I have really enjoyed this weekend, and have learnt so much already this early on in the competition. It was a tough race today and I found myself in an ongoing battle with Bahrain's Hamad Al Khalifa. I had to defend really well which is something I have been working on and I managed to come out on top." "Individual battles this season will be important for me to gain as many points as possible. If I can get my speed where it needs to be and win each individual battle I come up against then I will naturally move closer to the front of the pack. I am looking forward to Dubai and I am determined to get my first podium finish of the season!" Walter Lechner, the owner of Lechner Racing, and founder and manager of the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East added: "The two Saudi drivers have done very well this weekend. The standards of this championship are very high. I am confident of Bandar's ability and it was a difficult decision whether to categorize him as a gold or silver driver this season. If he continues to perform the way he has done this weekend then he will definitely cause those at the front of the pack some trouble throughout the campaign. "Mohammad is new to the championship, and with less racing experience than a lot of the other drivers on the track he has really impressed me this weekend. The new GCC rookie category is perfect for young drivers like Mohammad and I am sure that if he continues to work hard we will see him on the podium for this category on more than one occasion this season." Less than twenty-four hours after a gripping first race on the season the same 17 cars representing 12 different nationalities returned to the grid and produced more world-class high speed action. Although on this occasion the bold overtaking maneuvers were a feature of those further down the grid battling for second place rather than the lead. Frijns was the only driver to avoid any threats to his position and led from start to finish, looking comfortable throughout to win by a margin of 1.618 seconds. Behind Frijns, Dylan Pereira of Luxembourg repeated the second place he secured in the opening race with Norway's Denis Olsen in third. Speaking after the win Frijns said: "This is my first victory in three years so you can imagine how much it means to me. I managed to achieve a number of podium positions last season in the championship but never managed to win a race. I had a really good start today and managed to pull a gap ahead of the others, I knew I just had to concentrate on my driving and not worry about what was going on behind me. Towards the end of the race Dylan closed the gap a little but that was due to me keeping it safe and focusing on not making any mistakes. The second round of the championship featuring the third and fourth races of the twelve race season will take place at Dubai Autodrome on Dec. 9th and 10th December, 2016. — SG
