Bahrain International Circuit (BIC), “The Home of Motorsport in the Middle East”, crowned on Saturday night the champions of the 2021/2022 Bahrain Drag Racing Championship.
The region’s leading drag racing series wrapped up its latest campaign with the fifth and final round on Friday, and the season’s titles were handed out in the official awarding ceremony held at the BIC Paddock. BIC COO Fayez Ramzy Fayez was in attendance, along with other officials from BIC, the Bahrain Motor Federation (BMF) and the Bahrain Drag Racing Club (BDRC), as well as winners and participants from the championship.
The newest champions were each presented with a highly coveted Wally trophy—the highest honour in the sport of drag racing awarded only to champions of events sanctioned by the U.S.-based National Hot Rod Association (NHRA). The world-class BIC drag strip is a member of the prestigious NHRA Worldwide Network.
The list of honourees included Bahrain1 Racing ace Khaled Al Balooshi (Pro Mod) from the UAE, and four Bahrainis. They were Abdulla Yaqoub (10.0 Index), Hussain Saeed Yousif (8.5 Index), Yousif Alzayani (Outlaw 6-Cylinder), Hussain Mohammed (Pro 29.5 V8).
Four Kuwaitis were crowned champions, including Sayed Hussain Al Hadad (7.5 Index), Ahmed Alsaai (Outlaw 4-Cylinder), Fawaz Karam (Competition 4.5) and Mohammed Al Awwad (Outlaw Bikes).
Fadi Abu Jamus from Saudi Arabia clinched a title double by winning both the Street Fight Bikes 9.5 and 8.5 Index Bikes categories, while countryman Mishari Al Turki made it two Saudi champions by winning the Pro Street Bikes class.
Hamdan Juma from the UAE rounded off the title winners by taking the Index 9.0 category.
Exciting season-finale
There was plenty of exciting action in the season-finale with some titles still to fight for and despite others already being decided.
Bahrain1’s Al Balooshi was assured of his crown heading into the meeting—having won three of the previous four rounds—but was still determined to finish on a high, and he did just that. He won his final elimination with a pass of 3.744 seconds at 319.53kph to beat Muslem Alqallaf’s 3.984s run. Bahrain1 teammate Stevie Jackson from the U.S., the back-to-back reigning NHRA Pro Mod world champion, was classified third.
Eight of the other champions were also able to win in the season-finale.
Yaqoub took first place in the 10.0 Index category with a winning time of 10.068s and a top speed of 197.25kph, as final opponent Abdulaziz Al Qattan had a red light. Alzayani followed suit in the Outlaw 6-Cylinder class, winning with a 4.366s final pass at 270.57kph to beat Nawaf Almanai’s 4.427s. Mohammed triumphed in the Pro 29.5 V8 with a time of 4.079s at 217.10kph, outduelling Abdulla Al Shamsi for the win.
In the 9.0 Index category, Juma secured place first with a run of 9.102s at 232.72kph in the final elimination to beat Nasser Adel Alghanem’s 9.160s. Alsaai won the Outlaw 4-Cylinder class with an 8.734s time at 262.81kph to beat Mahmood Saleh’s 11.063s.
Abu Jamus claimed the 8.5 Index Bikes division after going for an 8.534s run at 220.53kph in the final elimination. Al Turki won the Pro Street Bikes with a 4.504s pass at 268.91kph to beat Ahmed Bin Belal’s 4.873s, while Al Awwad clinched the Outlaw Bikes win with a 4.235s time at 258.73, outgunning Jehad Aljamal’s 6.438s.
Elsewhere in the round, Hussain Abduljalil won amongst the 8.5 Index runners after beating Ahmed Sarhan with an 8.531s pass at 260.20kph. Mohammed Suliman clinched the 7.5 Index class with a 7.604 final pass at 283.57kph to narrowly defeat champion Al Hadad’s 7.725s time. Bassel Ebrahim Abbas won the Competition 4.5 category with a run of 4.509s at 244.17kph, beating the 4.550s mark of Ebrahim Abdulla. Nasser Al Kubaisi completed the winners’ list with his triumph in the Street Fight Bikes 9.5 division, where he had a 9.695s time at 223.51 in the final elimination, outduelling Yusuf Hilal.
The 2021/2022 season of the Bahrain Drag Racing Championship featured participants from across the GCC and the U.S. Each round was well-participated, with competitors reaching record numbers of up to 225 in a meeting.
The championship was organised and run by BIC, the BMF and the BDRC.