TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2020 12 F2 set for thrilling battles F1 feeder series to bring plenty of excitement in support of 2020 Gulf Air Bahrain GP at BIC this weekend

Twenty-two car• grid set for F2 season’s penultimate round at BIC, with Mick Schumacher KNOW WHAT spearheading the pack as the current drivers’ F2 is widely accepted championship leader to be the chief feeder championship to • This weekend’s F1, with the likes of F2 programme Charles Leclerc, Lando includes Practice and Norris, George Russell, Qualifying on Friday, a Alexander Albon and 32-lap Feature Race on Nicholas Latifi being Saturday, and a 23-lap recent F2 graduates F2 action at BIC last year Sprint Race on Sunday seat in the future. well as in F2 last year. The Ger- ing System, Artem Markelov of of BWT HWA Racelab, Marino double-header at BIC in 2020. TDT | Manama F2 is widely accepted to be man will be competing alongside BWT HWA Racelab, Sato of Trident, Following this weekend’s meet- the chief feeder championship teammate of , and Roy of Hitech Grand Prix, and the ing, the season’s final round will ahrain International Cir- to the top flight, with the likes for Prema Racing, who are the Nissany of Trident, all of whom MP Motorsport pair of Giuliano take place in support of the F1 cuit (BIC) will this week- of F1’s young stars having grad- current frontrunners in the have tested in an F1 car in the Alesi and . Rolex Sakhir Grand Prix from Bend be the setting for the uated from F2 in recent years, teams’ championship fight. past, and many of whom have The weekend’s events in F2 December 4 to 6. penultimate round of the 2020 such as Charles Leclerc, Lando Several other top names scheduled F1 drives in the com- feature a 45-minute Practice at F2 is one of two series sup - FIA Formula 2 Championship, Norris, George Russell, Alexan- are to battle it out along BIC’s ing weeks. 12.35pm and a half-hour Qual- porting the F1 Gulf Air Bahrain global motorsport’s most com- der Albon and Nicholas Latifi, to 5.412-kilometre Grand Prix Completing the entry list are ifying at 4.15pm on Friday. A Grand Prix. The other is the Por- petitive single-make series, be- name just a few. track this weekend, including for Uni-Virtuosi Feature Race run over 32 laps sche Sprint Challenge Middle ing held in support of the For- This year, spearheading the of ART Racing, who is currently second will then take place at 12.10pm East, which will be holding the mula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand pack is Mick Schumacher, son of Grand Prix and of in the drivers’ championship be- on Saturday, and then a 23-lap opening round of its 2020/2021 Prix. seven-time F1 World Champion Uni-Virtuosi Racing, who both hind Schumacher and ahead of Sprint Race wraps up the F2 campaign. Twenty-two of motor racing’s Michael Schumacher, who is the tested with Renault F1 team in Tsunoda, of action at 1pm on Sunday. F2 officials and team members brightest young talents are set current leader on the drivers’ Sakhir less than a month ago. ART Grand Prix, Daniel Ticktum The grid for the Sprint Race is have already begun arriving in to line up on the grid at “The championship standings. Others are Sean Gelael of of Dams, of Car- to be determined by the finish- the Kingdom and begun setting Home of Motorsport in the Mid- Schumacher is no stranger to Dams, of Carlin, lin, of Capos ing order of the first race, with up at BIC along the Support Race dle East” as they continue their BIC, having raced here in the of , Racing, Pedro Piquet of Charouz the top eight positions reversed. Pits. For more information, visit journey towards a potential F1 past in other junior formulae as Louis Deletraz of Charouz Rac- Racing System, Theo Pourchaire Just like F1, F2 is holding a bahraingp.com.

Bahrain to face tough tests against Iraq, Renault’s Ricciardo, Ocon looking forward to racing in Bahrain ‘heat’ Bahrain on Friday at 7pm. It Iraq name 14-player will be their first of two meet- TDT | Manama challenge for the cars and driv- • ings against the nationals in this ers racing in the heat. It’s going squad that includes stage of the qualifiers. enault F1 Team drivers Dan- to be a little more conventional three big men over six India, meanwhile, have Riel Ricciardo and Esteban to have the tyres working back feet, 10 inches tall formed a 12-player squad for the Ocon may be in for a surprise to normal and then it’s up to us games in Bahrain, led by skip- when they race in Bahrain this to do the best on car set-up.” India’s 12-man per Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, top week, as they expect to enjoy Both Ricciardo and Ocon are • talents Amjyot Singh and Muin some desert heat but may in- looking forward to the start of roster spearheaded Bek Hafeez, and NBA G-League stead be met by cooler temper- action on Friday and the ele- by stars Amjyot Singh, player Princepal Singh. atures and possibly even some ment of racing at night, while Muin Bek Hafeez and Their line-up is rounded out rain. being hopeful for some good NBA G-League player by Jagdeep Singh, Sahaij Pratap The Formula 1 Gulf Air Bah- results this weekend in the 15th Singh Sekhon, Prasanna Ven- rain Grand Prix has never taken round of the 2020 Formula 1 Princepal Singh katesh, Anil Kumar Gowda, Sei- place this late in the year, poten- season. jin Mathew, Sahajkumar Patel, tially making for a completely “Two of the three practice TDT | Manama Sharad Dadich and Prashant different experience both in and sessions are during the day Singh. Bahrain and India lock out of the car for the top flight’s when it’s really hot and both osts Bahrain will have a horns on Sunday at 7pm. The stars in the Sakhir desert. qualifying and the race are in Htough challenge when they Bahrainis had beaten their Indi- To add to that, the Ministry the evening when the circuit take on Iraq and India later this an counterparts in their opening of Transportation and Telecom- is a lot cooler; this does make week in their next two quali- clash last February, also played munications’ Meteorological preparing for this race a chal- fying games for the 2021 FIBA at home, by a single point, and Directorate forecasts moder- lenge and adapting to differ- Asia Cup. the visitors will now hope to ately cloudy days and medium ent set-ups is important,” said The nationals will be playing avenge that defeat. The Indians rain between Friday and Sun- Ricciardo. on home soil, but will not have had won their next game against day, when racing will be held at Ocon commented: “Bahrain the benefit of local fan support India’s Muin Bek Hafeez looks to score against Iraq’s Karrar Hamzah during the Iraqis. Bahrain International Circuit brings some great opportuni- their meeting earlier this year in the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers as no spectators will be permit- Bahrain have been training (BIC). ties for overtaking and it’s also ted at the playing venue due to behind closed doors the past Temperatures are also ex- usually a great race for strategy, the ongoing health crisis. tion. three players over six foot, 10 few weeks under head coach pected to be as low as 20 degrees so let’s see what happens this The Iraqis arrived in the All fixtures will be played at inches in Ihab Al Zuhairi, Ali and former NBA champion Sam C, and as high as 29 degrees C weekend. Kingdom yesterday while the the Khalifa Sports City arena in Hameed and Mohammed Al Vincent. during the day. “Turn 1 is the best overtaking Indians are scheduled to reach Isa Town, beginning on Friday Khafaji. The rest of their roster Games in qualifying’s Group Speaking ahead of this week- spot and Turn 4 is also pretty the country today. and continuing until Monday features naturalised American A are also set to be held in the end’s events, Ricciardo said: good. Overall, it’s a cool track, They are in Group D in this next week. Demario Mayfield, Hassan Ab- Kingdom this week, featuring “I’m looking forward to being so I’m really looking forward to stage of qualifying along with Iraq have named a 14-play- dallah, Ahmed Al Nasrawi, Ali the Philippines, Indonesia and back in the heat in Bahrain! going there.” Lebanon, who are also already er pool for the qualifiers in Hamad, Ali Ismael, Dhulfiqar Thailand. Korea are also in the “I know we’ve been to some Renault are currently fighting in Bahrain for this week’s ac- Bahrain. The team includes Al Hchaimi, Diar Abdul Allah, group but they have withdrawn awesome tracks across Europe with Racing Point, McLaren and Hussein Talib, Karrar Hamzah, from competing in Bahrain. recently and whilst they’ve all Ferrari for the right to claim as Mohammed Abbdulqader, and The visiting teams are sched- been fun for various reasons, the high as third place on the con- The top two teams of each of Thulfiqar Hamoodi. uled to begin training today. The weather has been too cold for structors’ championship stand- the six groups at the end of Iraq lost their first two qual- Bahrain Association me! I much prefer the heat and ings, and will need a solid points this stage of qualifying will ifying games against Lebanon has allocated Zain Basketball it’s still pretty warm in Bahrain haul at the Bahrain Grand and India in February of this Arena in Um Al Hassam and the during the evening, which is Prix, with only two rounds KNOW WHAT qualify directly for the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup year, but are determined to Manama Club basketball gym in great.” remaining following this bounce back when they face Juffair as practice venues. Ocon added: “It’s certainly a weekend.

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