THE first round of the 2009/2010 Chevrolet Supercars Middle East Championship came to a gripping conclusion yesterday with Prince Khalid Al Faisal of Saudi Arabia celebrating his maiden victory in the Bahrain-based series at the inaugural Formula One Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Prince Khalid had a heated neck-and-neck battle with pole man Shaikh Salman bin Rashid Al Khalifa although he managed to build a comfortable enough gap to defend the lead all the way to the checkered flag.
Prince Khalid clocked 25 minutes and 49.218 seconds. He now prepares to bow out of the championship while on top, as he has already made known that he does not plan to compete over the remainder of the seven-round season due to a previous commitment in another high-profile international series.
Shaikh Salman crossed the finish line 7.663 seconds behind for second place while trailing the top two was defending champion Fahad Al Musalam of Bahrain. Al Musalam finished 12.162 seconds from Prince Khalid, and had a somewhat lonely drive after creating a large gap from the rest of the pack.
All three SC09 category competitors enjoyed their second podium appearance of the weekend. In race one yesterday, Shaikh Salman raced to victory as Al Musalam made it a Bahraini one-two in second and Prince Khalid was third.
Tarek Elgammal of Australia, the first-ever champion of the Chevrolet-backed series, came fourth. Home grown driver Mohammed Al Owais of the UAE was fifth after a lengthy fight with his Bahraini counterpart Shaikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, who finished less than a second behind him.
Shaikh Salman also set the race's fastest lap yesterday of two minutes and 33.333 seconds. He now holds the lead heading into the second round at the Bahrain International Circuit on December 10 and 11.
Race two results: 1 Prince Khalid Al Faisal (25mins 49.218secs); 2 Shaikh Salman bin Rashid Al Khalifa (+7.663), 3 Fahad Al Musalam (+12.162); 4 Tarek Elgammal (+32.935); 5 Mohammed Al Owais (+34.683); 6 Shaikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa (+35.069); 7 Raed Charawi (+38.051); 8 Abdul Aziz Al Yaeesh (+40.321); 9 Ahmed Al Harthy (+50.085); 10 Faisal Raffii (+92.914); 11 Al Qassim Hamidaddin (+100.054); 12 Ezra Idafar (+105.751) 13 Bandar Al Silmy (+116.988); 14 Husam Al Saleh (+125.444); 15 Christophe Mariot (+130.222)); 16 Mohammed Al Falasi (+1 lap).
