Salman bin Rashid Al Khalifa continued his impressive return to the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East; finishing sixth in race 2 of Round Two at the Dubai Autodrome, in a contest which saw Kuwait’s Zaid Ashkanani secure his first win of the series.
Starting ninth on the 16-car grid, Al Khalifa had a tight midfield battle on his hands with Denmark’s Christina Nielsen and Saudi Falcons Faisal Binladen to finish in the top six. The trio interchanged positions on a regular basis with Nielsen eventually finishing fifth and Al Khalifa sixth.
“Overall after the weekend’s racing I’m pleased to have secured points for Team Bahrain but I didn’t really feel at my best today. I gave it everything but I just wasn’t in the groove. Maybe our tyre strategy wasn’t the right one but I knew early on I would need to fight for every place. A third place finish and a 9th place is something to build on,” Al Khalifa said.
Starting from pole, Ashkanani produced a scintillating performance that defied his age to lead from the start, despite immense pressure from reigning champion Clemens Schmid. Al Nabooda Racing’s Schmid almost snatched victory on the final lap but the Kuwaiti kept his cool to cross the line.
“It was a tough race and I was concentrating as hard I could right until the very end. I learned a lot from yesterday’s sessions but the pressure I felt today was huge. I feel I can take a lot from this race and I’m looking forward to building some momentum in the January round in Qatar,” following his victory by 0.913 seconds Ashkanani, said.
Skydive Dubai Falcons duo of Sheikh Hasher Al Maktoum and Saeed Al Mehairi improved on their performances from race 1 in front of a sizeable home crowd. Sheikh Hasher, starting sixth on the grid battled his way through the traffic to finish fourth, while team-mate Al Mehairi finished tenth.
“I have to be satisfied with the result. I moved up two places from sixth to fourth but by the time I’d done that the front three were out of reach. I’m still learning, still getting to know the car and how to get the best performance out of it but for my first season I think so far my finishes have been reasonable. I’m already looking forward to Qatar. I’ve raced there once before and have the track memorized. With more time in the car I’ll push for the podium in Qatar,” Sheikh Hasher Al Maktoum said.
In what was undoubtedly the most exciting race of the season so far which saw positions change frequently, Ashkanani continued his impressive start to the season to keep the experienced Schmid at bay throughout; the Austrian coming closest to a pass on the final lap. Schmid saw an opportunity to undertake the race leader but Ashkanani closed the door on his opponent.
“I was disappointed with the result. We obviously wanted to come first but Zaid was quick and I didn’t get past him. I feel we did everything right in the race but I admit that the result could have been worse,” Championship leader Clemens Schmid said.