Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Ramadan 17, 1445 H
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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Khalid aims for success in Bahrain

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MUSCAT: Talented Omani rookie Khalid al Wahaibi is relishing the prospect of taking part in the 2017-2018 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East, which gets under way at Bahrain’s International Circuit at Sakhir this weekend.

The son of former kart racer Ibrahim al Wahaibi and nephew of the region’s leading former rally driver Hamed al Wahaibi and kart racer Khaled al Wahaibi, Khalid cut his motor sport teeth in the world of karting himself.


Between 2013 and 2016, the youngster tackled numerous races in his native Sultanate of Oman and was the Oman Junior Max and Oman 6hr Kart Endurance Champion in 2014-2015 and the UAE Junior Max series winner the following year.


He qualified for both the X30 and Rotax World finals in 2015/2016 and tackled F4 races this season in South East Asia. The Omani finished the championship in seventh position and third rookie, despite missing one round.


Al Wahaibi said: “Ever since I was young and around my father I was enthusiastic about motor sport. By the age of three, I had my first quad bike and then moved on to a Yamaha dirt bike. My father and my rally-driving uncle saw the passion I had for motor sport and thought I had a natural talent. But there was no kart track in town and it did not re-open until 2013. Since then, I have competed locally, regionally and internationally and also in F4.


“I want to push myself in motor sport and becoming a professional driver would be a dream come true. I have not raced for eight months and I have no set goal for the Porsche GT3 Cup. The jump from F4 will be a challenge in itself and I will need to get used to the car and familiarise myself with the driving technique. Then, we can aim forward and keep progressing up the field.”


The Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East is organised by Porsche Middle East & Africa FZE in association with Lechner Motorsport GmbH and will be fought out over six race meetings and 12 rounds in Bahrain, Dubai and Abu Dhabi between this weekend (November 16-18) in Bahrain and the final two races back at the Sakhir circuit in early April.


The weekend’s Porsche activities take place in conjunction with Bahrain’s round of the FIA World Endurance Championship and get under way with free practice from 10.55hrs (11.15hrs Oman time) on Thursday and a second session from 13.30hrs.


Porsche qualifying (Q1) takes place at Sakhir from 12.35hrs on Friday and Q2, at 15.20hrs, precedes the first night race of the season, which fires into life at 19.20hrs. Teams will be permitted back on to the desert circuit for a warm-up session from 10.35hrs on Saturday and race two gets the green flag at 13.30hrs.


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