15 WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2019 sports Bahrain clubs get tough draws for AFC Cup Teams arrive for Bapco TDT | Manama Muharraq or Riffa will then be playing in Group C which Group Stage Draw ahrain’s clubs have been includes Al Jazeera of Jordan, West Zone Bdrawn in a pair of tough Dhofar of Oman and Qadsia SC groups for the 2020 AFC Cup. of Kuwait. Group A 8 Hours of Bahrain The draw was held yester- A total 48 teams will be vying Al Ahed FC (LIB) day at the AFC House in Kuala for the 2020 AFC Cup, with the Manama Club (BHR) Lumpur. group stage divided into five Al Jaish (SYR) WEC officials and Two slots have been allocated zones. Play-off winner (OMA/PLE) • in the competition’s West Asia The 2020 season kicks off team members have zone for Bahrain clubs. They with the preliminary stage on Group B already begun arriving are Manama and either former January 22 with the final sched- Al Faisaly / Al Wehdat (JOR) in the Kingdom AFC Cup champions Muharraq uled for November 7. Al Ansar (LIB) or Riffa. The stakes for the upcoming Kuwait SC / Al Salmiya SC(KUW) Al Wathba (SYR) TDT | Manama Manama were drawn in edition have been raised even Group A alongside defending higher after the AFC Executive champions Al Ahed of Lebanon, Committee’s decision to allo- Group C ahrain International Al Jaish of Syria and another cate the 2020 AFC Cup winners Riffa / Muharraq Club (BHR) Circuit (BIC) is all ready team that is yet to be deter - with a guaranteed spot in the Al Jazeera (JOR) Bto host the FIA World mined from either Oman or play-off stage of the 2021 AFC Dhofar Club (OMA) Endurance Championship Palestine. Champions League. Qadsia SC (KUW) (WEC) this weekend with the Cars in the pits at BIC much-anticipated Bapco 8 Hours of Bahrain. their crates of equipment and Home of Motorsport in the The endurance racing spec- setting up their respective bases Middle East” becomes “the Andreescu named Canada’s athlete of the year tacle, happening as part of the and garages in preparation for home of endurance racing in four-day BIC National Day Fes- the start of racing. the Middle East”, as dubbed by Reuters | Toronto year ago, was a unanimous 19-year-old Andreescu said in tival, marks the midway point A number of the WEC’s star WEC CEO Gerard Neveu. The pick after a breakout a statement issued by Tennis of the 2019/2020 WEC season. drivers have also started to Bapco 8 Hours of Bahrain is the ianca Andreescu was season in which she Canada. Race fans will be able to enjoy reach Bahrain. Russian Ro - WEC’s only event in the region, Bawarded the Lou Marsh upset Serena Wil - Andreescu began to gain the Le Mans-inspired action man Rusinov of LMP2 team and it kicks off the on-track Trophy as Canada’s athlete of liams in the U.S. Open attention in when she beat on Friday and Saturday at the G-Drive Racing was among activities on Thursday, which the year on Monday, capping a final and reached a ca- former world num - Sakhir track, while the National the first to make it to the King- will be closed to the public. remarkable year in which the reer-high fourth in the ber ones Caroline Day celebrations will be held dom. He and the other WEC There will be a pair of 90-min- teenager became the country’s world rankings. Wozniacki and from Friday all the way through delegates were given a warm ute practices on the day, setting first tennis Grand Slam singles “Wow, I’m so thankful Venus Wil - to Monday. welcome upon their arrival at the stage for another 60-min- champion with her U.S. Open for this award. I was not liams on her WEC officials and team mem- Bahrain International Airport ute practice and qualifying on triumph. expecting it and to be the way to the bers have already begun arriv- by BIC’s Meet and Greet team Friday. Andreescu, an unknown first tennis player to win Auckland ing in the kingdom. They have members. The big eight-hour race is quantity to most in Canada a is even more surreal,” the final. been hard at work over the past The WEC’s set-up at BIC then scheduled for Saturday, Bianca Andreescu couple of days at BIC unpacking continues Wednesday as “The starting in the daylight at 3pm and continuing until 11pm with BIC being brilliantly lit by its The FIA WEC Bapco 8 Hours of Bahrain takes place this weekend at Bahrain state-of-the-art floodlighting International Circuit. Here is a very interesting selection of event-based system. statistics, according to fiawec.com, from years gone by: Tickets to each day of WEC and the BIC National Day Fes- 1. The 2017 Bahrain race saw AF Corse’s Ferrari 488 GTE Pro photo-finish mark tival are just BD1 per person the closest ever gap between the winner and second in class, just 0.174 seconds. per day. They can be purchased It broke the previous record (0.568) from Shanghai in 2013 by Aston Martin. online at BIC’s official website www.bahraingp.com, by call- Presenter 2. The 2016 and 2017 Bahrain races each saw one retirement, a rare occurrence ing the BIC Hotline on +973- in the WEC. In 2016, Aston Martin Racing’s #98 bowed out on lap 84. Strangely, 17450000 or at the BIC stand at 2017 would see Porsche GT Team’s #92 retire, also on lap 84; racing for four City Centre Bahrain. minutes 47 seconds less Aside from the WEC, there will also be racing in racing 3. A total of 7,333 laps have been raced by LMP1 cars in Bahrain, from cars in two highly popular support representing eight teams. The total distance covered equates to 39,686km, with series: the MRF Challenge sin- 2019 entrants Toyota contributing the most at 1,966 laps, and Rebellion further gle-seater championship from back on 1,330. India and the BIC-based Por- sche Sprint Challenge Middle 4. Despite the three LMP1 manufacturers all winning in Bahrain, only three East. drivers won more than once – 2013’s winning Toyota trio of Anthony Davidson, Off the race track, the enter- Sebastien Buemi and Stephane Sarrazin. Toyota’s Sarrazin won again the follow- tainment throughout the four- ing year, alongside Alexander Wurz and Mike Conway, whilst Buemi and Davidson day festival will be highlighted scored their fifth win of the season there in 2017. by nightly concerts featuring some of the region’s biggest 5. To date, 171 cars have combined for 28,844 racing laps at Bahrain Internation- names in music. Star singer al Circuit. The total distance covered equals 156,104km, or 97,002 miles. Balqees will be taking to the stage on the first night on Fri- 6. Italy’s Gianmaria Bruni became the first driver in the FIA WEC to reach 10 day, followed by Mohammed wins at Bahrain in 2014, in only his 21st start – giving a 48% ratio. Al Salem on Saturday. Essa Al 7. No car at Bahrain has ever hit a higher speed than the Rebellion R1, back in Marzouq will then perform on 2016. Switzerland’s Mathéo Tuscher hit 303.5 kph in the AER powered prototype, Sunday and then Abdulla Al eclipsing Lucas di Grassi’s Audi R18-high 295.3kph from the previous year. Rowaished will go live on stage on Monday. 8. The six races in Bahrain to date have seen 18 retirements from 171 starters, Each concert is scheduled giving an 89.5% finish rate. for an 8.30pm start every night. There will also be the big - 9. No GTE team has a better run of pole positions in Bahrain than Aston Martin gest fireworks display in the Racing, with the British brand having scored five in a row from 2013-2017. In LMP, Kingdom of Bahrain at the fes- Signatech Alpine’s #36 starting from the front on the last three occasions holds tival, as well as world-class per- the best streak. forming artists from around the globe such as The Black Angels 10. Bahrain 2015 saw all 32 of the starters take the chequered flag six hours later. acrobats, Spark! LED Drum- A combined 5,713 race laps - or 19,213 miles, were covered, in what became the mers and Stannage Interna- first full-duration race with a 100% finish rate. tional Stunt Team, plus carnival rides for kids, traditional mu- 11. Bahrain is the only circuit where Porsche, Aston Martin and Ferrari all swept sic, food stalls and a shopping the GTE fastest laps. Porsche set it in 2013 – by Richard Lietz and Paolo Ruberti. bazaar. Aston Martin in 2015 – Marco Sørensen and Pedro Lamy, and again in 2016 – Jona- The BIC National Day Festival than Adam and Lamy. Before Ferrari in 2017 – Davide Rigon and Matt Griffin. is being held with the support of His Royal Highness Prince 12. No team has clocked up more laps at the three Asian circuits (Bahrain, Fuji, Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Shanghai) than Toyota Gazoo Racing, currently sitting on 7,234. Rebellion Racing Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme is third, behind Audi, on 5,001. Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister..