Raed Abu Zinadh and Prince Mohammed Al-Saud plan to defend series leads at Saudi Racing Festival on Reem Circuit

22.03.2011 / Reem (Saudi Arabia) – Cairo – Dubai /

Saudi Arabia’s Reem International Circuit plays host to the fourth Saudi Racing Festival on Thursday 24th of March 2011, and several drivers and riders will be aiming to seal championship success at the Kingdom’s premier motor sport venue.

The Saudi Racing Festival will feature a Saudi Radical Championship race, a round of the Saudi Formula series and the fifth round of the Reem Club Bikes Championship.

Raed Abu Zinadh did his chances of winning the Saudi Radical Championship no harm at all by taking victory at the previous Reem meeting in February. The Saudi Falcons driver leads the 1500cc class by nine points from Faisal Shaker of the GR8 Team. Abu Zinadh has won one race and also taken a Pole Position and recorded a fastest lap on his way to a total of 85 points.

Shaker has Bader Ali Reza breathing down his neck in third position with 73 points. The Saudi Falcons Team driver has also earned one Pole Position from four race starts, with Lebanon’s Doumit Bou Doumit and Saudi’s Fiher Al-Sharef recording the other pole lap times.

Bou Doumit holds fourth in the title race and leads a cluster of tightly bunched drivers in the middle reaches of the points’ standings, with Mohammed Bin Fahed, Al-Sharef, Saeed Al-Mouri and Saud Bin Turki in close attendance. Twelve drivers have scored points in the larger-engined Radical class.

Abdullah Al-Gain of the GR8 Team holds a two-points advantage in the 1340cc category over Saher Fataftah of the Sigma Team. Seven drivers have scored points in the smaller-engined category with Mohammed Al-Tayeb, Talal Bin Laden and Alqassim Hamidaaddin rounding off the top five.

Abdulaziz Bin Laden has been the form rider this season in the Reem Club Bikes Championship and has amassed 100 points from four maximum points scores. There are two rounds of the motorcycle series still to run, but Bin Laden can seal the championship with another maximum points haul on Thursday. The Saudi Falcons rider has a 38-point advantage over Ibrahim Al-Sharidah of the BMW Racing team and is a clear favourite to win the title.

The race for the runner-up spot is much closer and Muthanna Abu Ziab only trails Al-Sharidah by five points. Cobra Racing’s Stuart Gorzalek and Ahmed Al-Lanjawe of the Saudi Falcons team complete the top five. Twelve of 13 drivers who have tackled a round of the championship have scored points in the previous four races.

Victory for Prince Mohammed F. A Al-Saud in the previous round of the Saudi Formula Championship has pushed the local driver into a 10-point series lead following a disappointing non-finish after a spin for second-placed Yazan Hamadeh. Hamadeh remains 17 points clear of his Saudi Falcons team-mate Abdullah Bamogaddam heading into Thursday’s showdown.

Abdulrahman Abdullah Bin Saad of the Saudi Oger team finished second at the last race meeting and is tied for fourth place in the championship with Jalal Al-Sadi. Faisal Al-Kabbani, Sulaiman Al-Saheel, Sultan Kulo and Mohammed Al-Orabi complete the leader board after four races.

TS