[November 26, 2009] BIC gear up for Batelco series Tweet (Gulf Daily News (Bahrain) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) BAHRAIN International Circuit is gearing up to stage the third round of the Batelco 2000cc Challenge on December 11 and 12 as part of the first 'Speed Weekend Bahrain'. This championship will be one of three racing classes in the high-profile event. The others are the Chevrolet Supercars Middle East Championship and the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East. The Batelco 2000cc Challenge is in its third season and is being supported by leading telecommunications company Batelco which is providing attractive prize money for each round that draws dozens of drivers. The first two rounds of the 2009/2010 season were both filled with excitement. In the championship opener, Mustafa Al Khan, the defending champion, claimed both races in his Honda Civic. He finished ahead of Shaikh Jaber bin Ali Al Khalifa in a Honda Integra and Abdulrahman Ghuloom in another Honda Civic. In round two, Shaikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa was the man under the spotlight. Shaikh Hamad bin Isa stole the show from the other top entrants claiming a double. Shaikh Hamad steered his Honda Civic victory in Race One in front of his brother Shaikh Salman bin Isa Al Khalifa in a Honda CRX and Shaikh Jaber bin Ali. In Race Two, he finished ahead of Al Khan and Shaikh Jaber bin Ali. More tightly contested racing is expected in the upcoming meeting. Al Khan currently leads the championship standings with 41 points. Shaikh Jaber bin Ali is second with 36 points, and Shaikh Hamad bin Isa third with 31 points. Ghuloom is fourth on 19 points, Chris Rabie, who drives a Renault Clio Sport, is fifth with 18 points, and Shaikh Salman bin Isa sixth with 17 points. The standings are completed by Hisham Al Othman (Honda CRX) with 16 points, Mohammed Saleh (Honda Civic) with 15 points, Hamed Kuzbar (Ford Focus 2.0) with 14 points, Peter Turney (BMW E30) with eight points, Tim Birkin (Honda Integra) with four points, Stephen Kellogg (Mini Cooper) with one point while Ahmed Kuzbar (Ford Focus 2.0) is yet to score. Tickets for 'Speed Weekend Bahrain' are now available at BD7. Children aged under 15 will be able to get in free. Tickets can be purchased at the BIC stand at Seef Mall which is open from 10am to 10pm daily or by calling the circuit hotline on 17-450000, or online at the circuit's official website, www.bahraingp.com. (c) 2009 Gulf Daily News Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]