Bahrain: Bahrain1 Racing team upheld their perfect record in the Pro Mod category of the 2021/2022 Bahrain Drag Racing Championship after posting a fantastic one-two in the season’s third round, which culminated last weekend at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in Sakhir.
Defending champion Khaled Al Balooshi stormed to yet another impressive win but only by the narrowest of margins from Bahrain1 teammate and NHRA World Champion Stevie “Fast” Jackson.
The pair went head-to-head in the meeting’s final and put on a thrilling show. Al Balooshi had a run of 3.737 seconds at 319.60kph in his Gen 3 Camaro Blower, beating Jackson by just six-hundredths-of-a-second down an eighth-mile’s distance along the BIC strip.
Jackson’s time of 3.797s came with a 318.89kph top speed in his Camaro Gen 5 2021 challenger.
It was the third win in as many rounds for Al Balooshi, maintaining his pristine record so far in the Kingdom. The Emirati appears well on his way to claiming back-to-back Pro Mod titles in the Bahrain championship.
Completing the Pro Mod podium-placers was former champion Hani Hussain in third place.
More than 200 competitors from across the Gulf and the U.S. gathered at “The Home of Motorsport in the Middle East” to take part in the round, which marked the midway point of the season. They battled it out in 13 competition categories along BIC’s world-class quarter-mile strip, which is a member of the Worldwide Network of the U.S.-based National Hot Rod Association (NHRA).
Homegrown Bahraini talents were winners in seven of the race classes.
Abdulla Yaqoub triumphed in the 10.0 Index class after beating Abdulaziz Al Qattan in the final. Abdulrahman Asker finished third. Ali Khamiri won the 9.0 Index category beating Nasser Adel Alghanem, with Tariq Mahmood coming third.
Jassim Mohamed Saleh triumphed in the Outlaw 4-Cylinder class after clocking a pass of 10.420s in the final at 214.21kph, beating Mahmood Saleh’s time of 13.625s. Zakrya Al Kuwari came third.
Yousif Alzayani won the Outlaw 6-Cylinder category with an 11.154s run to beat Nawaf Almanai, who did not register a time in their final duel. Faisal Alarab claimed third.
Hussain Mohammed followed suit, winning the Pro 29.5 V8 class with a 4.057s mark at 297.14kph. He beat Abdulla Al Shamsi’s 6.688s time, with Nabeel Al Isa coming third.
Two Bahrainis were then winners in the motorbike classes. Hasan Salman took first place in the Street Fight Bikes 9.5 class after beating Yousef Al Holi, despite both riders having breakouts. Hamad Ahmed finished third.
