ZAIN REEM INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT, SAUDI ARABIA
SAUDI RACING FESTIVAL 4, March 24-25 – 2010
LEBANON’S DOUMIT AND SAUDI’S SAKHELARED TAKE ZAIN LOTUS CUP AND SAUDI RADICAL
WINS AT ZAIN REEM INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT ON THURSDAY
Saudi’s Saeed Al-Mouri clinches Saudi Radical Championship title
Saudi Arabia’s Prince Abdulaziz Al-Faisal clinches inaugural Porsche GT3 Cup title
Sixteen-year-old Fahad Al-Gosaibi enters history books with Porsche GT3 win
RIYADH (Saudi Arabia), Thursday, March 25: Lebanon’s Doumit Bou Doumit and Saudi Arabia’s Medhat Sakhelared won their respective Zain Lotus Cup and Saudi Radical Championship races at the Zain Reem International Circuit on Thursday afternoon.
Saudi Arabia’s Prince Abdulaziz Al-Faisal won the first of the two Porsche GT3 races on Wednesday afternoon and only needed to finish eighth or higher in the second race to clinch the inaugural regional race series. He eventually finished second overall behind Fahad Al-Gosaibi in sweltering conditions on Thursday afternoon and clinched the title with two rounds remaining.
Saudi’s Faher Al-Sharif had taken two victories from his previous three starts in the Zain Lotus Cup, with Lebanon’s Doumit Bou Doumit edging Abdullah Al-Dossari in the last race meeting. But Al-Sharif suffered technical problems in practice for Thursday’s 12-lap race and this left the door open for Doumit to clinch his second successive victory. Al-Dossari finished second overall and Majed Al-Ghamdi of the Bison Reem Team was third.
The Zain Lotus Cup race also featured the all-important Saudi Oger Cup section for young up-and-coming drivers. Mosaed Al-Khwayter and Prince Mohamed Bin Faisal bin Abdullah bin Mohamed had been the pace-setters alongside Theab Al-Qatani in the earlier rounds.
Saudi’s Saeed Al-Mouri has taken three successive victories in the 1.5-litre category of the Saudi Radical Championship, but Faisal bin Laden, Raed Abuznada and Medhat Sakhelared of the Bison Reem team were the fastest trio in the pole position qualifying for the final race of the day.
Sakhelared went on to clinch victory in the category, with Bin Laden in second position and third place was sufficient for Al-Mouri to claim the new Saudi Radical Championship. Faisal Shaker won the 1.3-litre class and Bander Ali Reza was second.
Saudi Arabia’s Prince Abdulaziz Al Faisal underlined his dominance of the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East with his seventh victory in nine races on Wednesday afternoon. The runaway series leader only needed to finish in the top eight in Thursday’s 10th round to become the first champion in the new one-make Porsche series and he clinched the title by finishing second overall in the second race behind 16-year-old Fahad Al-Gosaibi – the youngster created history by becoming the youngest ever winner of a Porsche race. Bandar Alesayi finished third.
Bahrain’s Sheikh Salman Bin Rashid Al Khalifa finished second in the first of the races, with the rapidly improving Faisal Bin Laden taking third overall in the 16-lap race and extending his lead in the Mobil 1 category for amateur and novice drivers. Sheikh Salman duly moved up from fifth to second in the points’ standings, a mere one point in front of Saudi’s Bandar Esai, but an overnight illness curtailed his chances of taking the outright win in Thursday’s second race.
The Saudi Speed Festival received valuable sponsorship from Zain, Saudi Oger, Toyota, Castrol, Bison energy drink, the Saudi Bin Laden Group of Companies, Al-Ghassan Motors and Saudi Radical.
– Ends –
For further media information:
Zain Reem International Circuit, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Bilal Kurjieh, E-mail: bilal@race.com.sa and Abdullah Al-Azem, E-mail: abdullah.alazem@race.com.sa
Saudi Arabian Motor Federation, PO Box 87881, Riyadh 11652, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Tel: + 9661 477 1035, Fax: + 9661 477 1050, www.samf.gov.sa
Arabic: Firas Nimri, Mobile: + 9662 777 282000, E-mail: nimrifiras@yahoo.com.
English: Neil Perkins, NDP Publicity Services, Mobiles: + 44 7831 123153 or + 971 50 3616881, E-mail: ndppublicity@googlemail.com.