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28
BAHRAIN SPORT
Gulf Daily News Sunday, 9th November 2014
Email: [email protected]
Toyota Racing look to bolster LMP1 title chances
PLENTY will be at
stake at the FIA WEC
Six Hours of Bahrain this weekend at
Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in
Sakhir.
Teams and drivers will be jostling
for positions as the points become
more valuable than ever.
The highly anticipated race will be
held on Friday and Saturday at “The
Home of Motorsport in the Middle East”.
Having clinched an impressive
one-two finish in the WEC’s previous
round in China last week, Toyota Racing head into Bahrain as the favourites
to claim this year’s Le Mans Prototype 1 (LMP1) Manufacturers’ World
Championship.
They top the standings with 226
points, but are not far ahead of defending
champions Audi Team Sport Joest who
are on 197. LMP1 debutants, Porsche,
are in third place with 133 points.
Toyota are looking to claim their
first-ever WEC manufacturers’ world
title and will need a good showing in
Bahrain, possibly similar to their finish
in China, to keep their bid on course.
Meanwhile, former Bahrain resident
Sebastien Buemi and Toyota teammate
Anthony Davidson are in prime position to secure the World Endurance
Drivers Prototype Championship.
They are in first place with 147
points apiece as the series gears up for
the Six Hours of Bahrain. In second
place are the Audi trio of Andre Lotterer, Benoit Treluyer and Marcel Fassler,
each with 105 points.
Toyota’s Nicolas Lapierre is in sole
third place with 96 points while Audi
drivers Lucas Di Grassi and Tom Kristensen are fourth with 92 points each.
Rebellion Racing have virtually secured the FIA Endurance Trophy for
Private LMP1 Teams despite plenty of
action still remaining in Bahrain and
Brazil to close out the season.
Challengers
They have 168 points while their
closest challengers, their sister team at
Rebellion, are on 43.
Similarly, the trio of Nick Heidfeld,
Nicolas Prost and Mathias Beche are
way ahead in first place in the race for
the FIA Endurance Trophy for LMP1
Private Team Drivers. They all are on
168 points, with their fiercest rivals on
43.
In the battle for the FIA Endurance
Trophy for LMP2 Teams, SMP Racing
are engaged in a heated neck-to-neck
battle with G-Drive Racing, with only
eight points separating the two (128
and 120 points) heading into Bahrain.
Sergey Zlobin leads the classification in the FIA Endurance Trophy for
LMP2 Drivers. He, however, only enjoys an eight-point lead (128 and 120
points) over the trio of Julien Canal,
Olivier Pla and Roman Rusinov. Anton Ladygin is in sole third place and
is still with a mathematical chance of
claiming the crown.
In the Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance (LMGTE) classes, Ferrari are
currently the pace setters to claim the
LMGTE Manufacturers’ World Cup.
They have 221 points and are in first
place, but cannot take anything for
granted the rest of the way as Porsche
follow close behind in second with
214 points. Aston Martin are in third
place with 169.
Gianmaria Bruni and Toni Vilander
are in top position in the standings
of the World Endurance Cup for GT
drivers. They have 131 points apiece.
Fred Makowiecki is second with 106.5
points and R Lietz third on 91.
In the FIA Endurance Trophy for
GT AM drivers, Kristian Poulsen and
David Heinemeier-Hansson lead the
title race with 154 points apiece.
The trio of Christoffer Nygaard,
Paul Dalla Lana and Pedro Lamy are
in second place with 123 points each.
In the title race for the FIA Endurance Trophy for LMGTE Pro Teams,
AF Corse are in first place with
131 points, while in the battle
for the FIA Endurance Trophy
for LMGTE Am Teams, Aston
Martin are the leaders with 154
points.
Double joy for
Shaikh Hamad
SHAIKH
Hamad bin
Isa Al Khalifa continued
his strong start to the new
season of the BIC 2,000cc
Challenge claiming a fine
double in round two at Bahrain International Circuit
(BIC) in Sakhir.
Having won both races in
the season-opener last month,
Shaikh Hamad returned to
“The Home of Motorsport in
the Middle East” and enjoyed
a near-perfect weekend in his
white Honda Civic hatchback.
Shaikh Hamad won the first
race from pole position and
then was awarded the win in
race two after the sprint was
red-flagged on the 12th lap. The
session was stopped due to excessive oil on the track.
Hussain Karimi and Abdulaziz
Ashkanani joined Shaikh Hamad
on the podium for both races,
with Karimi in second and Ashkanani third each time.
“I’m very happy to get the
two wins tonight,” said Shaikh
Hamad said. “The more points
the better. I’ve always wanted
to start the season collecting a
good number, so this time I’m
really happy and honoured to
be doing it.”
Shaikh Hamad began the
day’s proceedings by topping
the practice timesheet with a
best lap of one minute 20.305
seconds around BIC’s 2.55-km
Inner Track. He then secured
pole with a best lap of 1:19.745.
Shaikh Hamad moved on
to claim the chequered flag
n Winners
on the
podium
after the first 15-lap race in
20:19.686.
Karimi driving a yellow
Honda CRX followed in second place 7.788s behind while
Ashkanani in a black Honda
S2000 was third, 8.229s back.
Abdulrahman
Ghuloom
(black/blue Civic) finished
fourth, Raed Himmo (white
Honda CRX) fifth and Alex
Longden (white BMW 3 Series/F20C) sixth.
Challenge returnees Stephen
Kellogg (black Civic) and Tim
Birkin (white Honda Integra)
rounded out the race one classification.
Karimi clocked the race’s
fastest lap of 1:20.196.
In race two, Shaikh
Hamad had a five-second gap ahead of
Karimi before the session was red-flagged.
Ashkanani was third,
Himmo fourth, Birkin
fifth and Kellogg sixth.
Shaikh Hamad had
the fastest lap in race two of
1:19.970.
The winners were presented
their prizes in a podium ceremony attended by officials from
BIC, Bahrain Motor Federation
and Circuit Racing Club.
There are eight rounds in all
in the 2014-2015 season of the
tournament begins
THE Kerala Catholic Association
Zayani Motors International
Volleyball Tournament 2014 was
inaugurated on Friday night by
chief guest V K Rajasekharan
Pillai, National Fire and Safety
Managing Director.
Also present on the occasion were
Rev Renji Varghese Mallapally,
Rev Varghese Yohannan and
KCA president Sam Ancil Francis
and general secretary Sovichen
Chennattusserry.
Eight teams from Saudi Arabia,
India, Nepal and Bahrain are
taking part in this two-event event.
The event is powered by Lulu
Hypermarket and UAE Exchange.
The platinum sponsors are Ruby
Contracting Cleaning Company
and the gold sponsors Trans Auto
Rental, Al Ahbar Construction,
Al Mahroos, Maria Hotel
Management.
The co-sponsors are Alfa Express,
Basma, Nazarath Villas, Booknow.
bh, Ahmadi Industries, Slim Shape,
Jotun Paints, Gulf Membrane
and Coating Industries and RP
Construction.
For more information, contact
tournament convener Raison
Mathew on 34109999, tournament
coordinator K P Jose on 39097226,
KCA sports secretary Sibi
Kaitharath on 39178163, KCA
president Sam Ancil Francis on
37779343 or general secretary,
Sovichen Chennattusserry on
39073783.
n Support for bodybuilding
n Action
from the
race
BIC 2,000cc Challenge. Round
three will take place on December 19, which will mark the last
event of the calendar year.
Round four will usher in
2015 on January 16. The season’s fifth round is then slated
for February 6, to be followed
by round six on March 6.
The seventh and penultimate
meeting is then scheduled for
April 24 and the season-finale
for May 1.
For more information on
what’s going on at BIC, visit
the official website, www.bahraingp.com, or call the BIC Hotline on +973-17-450000
Cac Cansaulim sink DC Cabs
n CAC Cansaulim
n KCA volleyball
CAC Cansaulim routed DC Cabs United 5-1 in the Young Goans Club-Alba Eight-A-Side Football Tournament
played at Soccer City, Saar.
Fraser Antao scored in the eighth and15th minutes while Wincy Fernandes made it 3-0 soon after the restart.
Nezen Vaz made it 4-0 before Rohan Easo Roy
could pull one back for DC Cabs.
Former Churchill Brother’s player Cyrilo Baretto added the fifth goal.
In the second match, Salcete United stunned Bardez Boys with a solitary goal through Antonio Fernandes. Vasco Sporting and Yuva Kerala played out
a 1-1 draw in the third match of the day.
Avon Travon Silva gave Sporting the lead
through a penalty kick while Shameer Koolikandy equalised for Yuva Kerala.
In the last match of the day, Bahrain Goans
were held to a goalless draw by Marina FC.
Fraser Antao of Cac Cansaulim was declared
player-of-the-week.
INTERNATIONAL Federation
of Bodybuilding and
Fitness (IFBF) president Dr
Rafael Santonja and IFBF
vice-president and Asian
Bodybuilding and Weightlifting
Federation president Shaikh
Abdulla bin Rashid Al Khalifa
have assured their full support
to the organising committee of
the bodybuilding competition
at the Fourth Beach Games to
be held in Phuket. Thailand, on
November 21 and 22.
Dr Santonja and Shaikh Abdulla
will supervise the drug tests to
be conducted as part of a new
strategy to combat doping.
n Shaikh Nasser third
SUPREME Council for Youth
and Sports chairman and Bahrain
Olympic Committee president
Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al
Khalifa finished third and not
fourth in the Dubai International
Triathlon Championship in the
UAE.
Shaikh Nasser received a decision
from the Dubai International
Triathlon Championship
organising committee stating he
was ranked third following the
technical committee’s review of
the final results.