Hassan sets new world record as hotly contested drag racing season ends

BIC, Sakhir – Adel Hassan had twice the reason to celebrate during the fifth and final round of the 2013/2014 Bahrain National Drag Racing Championship.

The veteran Bahraini talent set a new World Record en route to claiming a fine victory in the Street 4 and 6 category.

Hassan’s winning time of 9.551 seconds at a speed of 225.69kph in his final run was a new World Record for naturally aspirated front-wheel four-cylinder cars.

His fine performance headlined a series of spectacular runs at an exciting season-finale hosted over the weekend by Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in Sakhir.

More than 100 drivers in the various cars and motorbikes classes from across the Gulf and beyond took to BIC’s quarter-mile drag strip one last time to battle it out for supremacy and championship points.

The meeting was organised by BIC in cooperation with the Bahrain Drag Racing Club (BDRC), Bahrain Motorcycle Club (BMC), Bahrain Motor Federation (BMF) and Motorsport Marshals Club (MMC).

Hassan had defeated Mohammed Ali in the final of the Street 4 and 6 category. Ali had a run of 10.338s at 206.36kph in the final. Abdulaziz Faisal finished in third place.

Also coming away with an impressive victory was Ali Haji in the Competition 4.5 class.

Registering an elapsed time of 4.558s and a reaction time of 0.091s, Haji defeated Tareq Hadi in their final round battle, while Salim Al Tamimi had to settle for third place.

“Tonight’s final round was very good, except for the weather, which did not help us,” Haji said after claiming his first victory of the season.

“The Competition 4.5 class is arguably the most difficult category in the championship,” added Haji. “It is very difficult to win here, especially again tonight.”

Several other drivers had impressive runs to cap another highly competitive year in the championship.

Yousif Alali won the Pro Mod class by a mere two-hundredths of a second against Turki Alhumadi. Alali had a winning mark of 3.890s in his eighth-mile run with a speed of 304.28kph. Khalil Ibrahim finished third.

Abdulla Al Shati followed suit with a stunning victory in the hotly contested Super Street V8 class.

Racing against favourite Khaled Mohammed of E Kanoo Racing Team, Al Shati stormed to first place with a winning time of 4.503s in the final at a speed of 282.89kph. Mohammed was two-tenths of a second slower as the runner-up while Talal Othman completed the podium placers.

Mohammed’s E Kanoo Racing teammate Gary White managed to claim a victory in the Outlaw 6-Cylinder class. The American won the final race comfortably against Mohammed Haji, who had a stage foul. Mohammed Shakib was classified third overall.

Claiming a fine win in the Super Street 6-Cylinder division was Yousif Abdulla, who clocked an 8.401s winner against Nawaf Ahmed. White was also competing in this class and he came up third to take the last podium step.

In the Street V8 category, Mohammed Sulyiman triumphed by four-hundredths of a second against Salah Salahuddin. Sulyiman’s winning time was 8.275s. Abduljaleel Abdulkarim completed the top three.

Abdulla Alsoory was the victor in the Outlaw 10.5 category. He had a winning mark of 4.385s against Abdulwahab Al Saleem in their final run. Nabeel Al Isa was third.

Ibrahim bin Hasher won the Outlaw Front-Wheel-Drive (FWD) in 8.634s, with Mohammed Mubarak in second and Jassim Ali in third.

In the three categories for bikes, Mohammed Burashid eased past Khalid Al Doseri in the final, with Musfer Al Musfer settling for third place. Burashid’s winning time was 8.379s.

Meshal Al Saber triumphed in the Pro Bike in 4.097s with Bill Vose and Mohammed Burashid behind; and Yaqoub Al Ali with a winning time of 7.019s claimed first place in the Super Street Bike class, with Mushari Al Turki and Ahmad Al Hamaidan in second and third, respectively.

At the end of all the evening’s action, the top three were presented their respective trophies by BIC, BDRC, BMF and BMC officials.

The season’s newly crowned champions in each category will be announced and awarded soon.