F1: Al Mansoori, Raffii in crucial round five wins – Gulf Digital News

F1: Al Mansoori, Raffii in crucial round five wins – Gulf Digital News

Ali Al Mansoori and Raed Raffii claimed a victory apiece in the fifth round of the 2021/2022 BIC 2,000cc Challenge, which took place over the weekend as part of National Race Day at Bahrain International Circuit’s (BIC) 2.55-kilometre Inner Track in Sakhir.

Al Mansoori captured the overall win in the first race while also emerging triumphant in the Novice class, and Raffii followed suit in race two with the overall and Pro class victories.

Al Mansoori was in top form from the opening session. He set the pace in practice with a best lap time of one minute 17.395 seconds in his Honda Civic, beating Raffii in his Honda S2000 by 0.143 seconds.

He then snapped up pole position for Race One with a 1:16.622 lap in qualifying – a mere 0.046s ahead of Raed Himmo in another Civic.

Al Mansoori claimed the win in the opening sprint from his starting position on the grid, taking the chequered flag in 15:34.459 over 12 laps, ahead of Raffii by 4.957s. Nasser Al Alawi, also driving a Honda S2000, clinched third place for the final overall podium place.

Raffii and Al Alawi were joined on the Pro class podium by Majed Himmo in another Honda Civic,