RIYADH — Saudi Falcons' Faisal Bin Laden claimed his second podium of the weekend as he finished in second position in Round 8 of the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East at Reem International Circuit. After starting third on the 15-car grid, Bin Laden manufactured a textbook opening corner to overtake Fahad Al-Gosaibi on the 17-lap 3.2-km circuit in a race comfortably won by Al-Nabooda's Clemens Schmid. With two second-place finishes in front of his adoring fans, Bin Laden was happy with his weekend's work. He said: “I am very happy with my performances this weekend. I have performed consistently throughout, but could not overtake Clemens who was very fast in this race. Starting third on the grid, I overtook Fahad in the first corner but the gap created by Schmid was too big to reduce.” Schmid once again produced another textbook race, seeing off challenges from Saudi Falcons' Faisal Bin Laden and Mohammed Mattar to claim maximum points and overtake Abdulaziz Al-Faisal in the overall championship standings. Having registered a victory of 2.354 seconds over Bin Laden, an ecstatic Schmid said: “It is a great feeling to win back-to-back races in Reem. The victory means I am leading in the championship standings with four rounds to go and hopefully I can keep hold of top spot. “Even though it was comfortable for me, the real action was at the back, with positions changing regularly in the final few laps,” he added. With reigning champion Al-Faisal failing to finish Round 8 following an incident, the result means Schmid is on top in the drivers' standings with 178 points. Following a disappointing weekend, Al-Faisal is second, 6 points behind with the UAE's Karim Al-Azhari of Al-Nabooda third on 142 points. The drivers' standings after Round 8 are: 1st Clemens Schmid (178 points), 2nd Abdulaziz Al-Faisal (172 points), 3rd Karim Al-Azhari (142 points), 4th Faisal Bin Laden (129 points) and 5th Zaid Ashkanani (119 points). The Team Standings are as follows: 1st Al-Nabooda (320 points), 2nd Saudi Falcons (301 points), 3rd Team Bahrain (261 points). Season 4 of the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East now moves to Qatar with Rounds 9 and 10 at the Losail International Circuit on March 8 and 9. Clemens Schmid, a day earlier, had won the Round 7, with Al-Faisal close behind. After starting fourth on the 15-car grid, Al-Faisal failed to dislodge Schmid from first place despite coming from fourth to second. Faisal Bin Laden finished Day One in third spot, despite starting second on the grid. — Agencies
