SAKHIR — Al-Nabooda Racing's Karim Al-Azhari capped a successful championship campaign with an impressive win at the season-ending race of the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East. The GT3 Cup was part of the weekend of National Racing at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC), “The Home of Motorsport in the Middle East”. Also part of the event was the BIC 2,000cc Challenge, in which Raed Himmo won to cap an exciting seventh round. In the Porsche GT3 Cup race, Al-Azhari's winning time of 25 minutes 43.613 seconds meant that he bested teammate Clemens Schmid, who finished 0.083s behind the leader. Schmid secured his maiden Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East title with his second spot finish. Saudi Falcons' Prince Abdulaziz Al-Faisal, meanwhile, earned third place on the podium 5.733s behind the winner, and was ahead of teammate Faisal Bin Laden, who recorded a 7.525s gap. In the fifth place was Zaid Ashkanani of Team BuzaidGT who was 9.222 seconds back, while Manfred Ender of Frijns Structural Steel finished sixth with a 9.921s gap. Team Bahrain drivers Mohammed Mattar and Shaikh Hamad Bin Isa Bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa, meanwhile, earned seventh and eighth spots, respectively, with gaps of 11.446s and 19.204s. Al-Azhari described his race as “fantastic,” and said he was proud to be part of the championships' “strongest team.” “In qualifying I had enough to take second position using my old tires, so once I put the new tires on, pole position was quite easy,” said the Emirati. “In the race I got a good start and pretty much kept the lead.” Schmid praised his teammate and hailed the first and second position finishes as a victory for their team. “I was a bit nervous, I mean it always is when you know you can win a championship,” he said. “I had a great battle with Abdulaziz and Karim, but I couldn't pass Karim, so I came in second, but we won the championship, so I'm really happy.” Meanwhile, Prince Abdulaziz Al-Faisal said he enjoyed the season, despite missing out on a higher place on the podium in the season finale. “I tried very hard to push and overtake the guys in the beginning, but it was a crazy race in the front,” he said. “With all the pushing, I think the tire degradation was high, so I couldn't maintain the same pace toward the end. But you live and learn, and you move on.” Team Bahrain's Mohammed Mattar, and ATA Freight Line Global's Cengiz Oguzhan were both given 10 second penalties for jump starts during the race. Raed Himmo, meanwhile, added another feather to his cap, with a victory in the 2,000cc Challenge. Himmo, who recorded the race's fastest lap at a total time of 17:24.662, saw off competition from second place Hussain Karimi who was 9.272s behind. In the third place was Shaikh Salman Bin Isa Bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa who was 12.572s behind the winner, while the fourth spot went to Robin Brown, 1:43.547s behind. Tim Birkin was one lap behind the leader at the end of the race. Alex Longden and Shaikh Hamad were not classified. — SG
