Salman claims pole to raise hopes of back-to-back wins

Abu Dhabi.  Bahrain’s Sheikh Salman bin Rashid Al Khalifa followed up his first race victory in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East 24 hours earlier by grabbing pole position
for Round 8 of the series today.

Sheikh Salman put himself in an excellent position to complete back-to-back wins later in the day by setting the fastest time of 1:59.628 in this morning’s qualifying session, as he did the previous day.

Second fastest with a time of 1:59.920 was Saudi Arabia’s championship leader, Prince Abdulaziz Al Faisal, the runner-up in Round 7 after five victories in the first six races of the 12-round series.

Holding third place in the championship, Saudi’s Bandar Alesayi was third quickest in 2:00.656, with Prince Khalid Al Faisal, 2:00.763, Abu Dhabi’s Khaled Al Qubaisi, 2:00.995, and Fahad Algosaibi, 2:01.066, completing the top six.

Round 8 Qualifying results:

1. Salman Bin Rashid Al Khalifa (BAH)                             1:59.628
2. Abdulaziz Al Faisal (KSA), Al Faisal Racing Team         1:59.920
3. Bandar Alesayi (KSA),                                                  2:00.656
4. Khalid Al Faisal (KSA), Al Faisal Racing Team              2:00.763
5. Khaled Al Qubaisi (UAE), Tolimit Racing                       2:00.995
6. Fahad Algosaibi (KSA), Algosaibi Travel Racing            2:01.066
7. Bandar Alireza (KSA), Reem Racing Team                    2:01.836
8. Faisal Binladen (KSA), Reem Racing Team                    2:02.830
9. Raed Abuzenadah (KSA), Reem Racing Team               2:03.254
10. Jaap Vaandrager (NL)                                                 2:03.483
11. Fawaz Al Gosaibi (KSA)                                             2:04:171