Manama, Dec. 6 (BNA): Ariel Levy scored an impressive brace in the second round of the 2022/2023 Porsche Sprint Challenge Middle East, which was held over the weekend at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir.
The Israeli driver almost had a perfect meeting after also clinching pole position and setting the fastest laps for both runs, which were held around the world famous 5.412km Grand Prix course in the ‘Home of Motorsports in the Middle East’.
A total of 18 drivers from around the world went bumper to bumper in identical Porsche 992 GT3 Cup cars over two days.
In the turn’s first race on Friday, Levy took the checkered flag in a time of 33 minutes, 10.347 seconds over 14 laps. He was 1.463 seconds ahead of Ghislaine Cordell of Belgium, while Austrian Florian Janitz finished second on the podium, 4.567 seconds behind.
Levy’s fastest lap in the first race was 2:03.843.
The top three finishers overall were among the top finishers among the Pro class drivers.
Bahrain’s Sheikh Salman bin Rashid Al Khalifa continued his impressive return to competition. He finished second among drivers in the GCC and sixth overall, 10.350s from Levy. Bandar Al-Esayi of Saudi Arabia was the top scorer in the GCC, while compatriot Khaled Al-Zayed followed him in third place.
Georgy Donchev of Bulgaria took first place in the ProAm category, Sheikh Salman came in second place, while Bashar Mardini of Canada finished third.
Mark J. Thomas, also of Canada, won the Am class ahead of Cedric Chassange of France and Merapi Mikvaishvili.
In the second race, Levy secured his back-to-back wins in a total time of 31:46.667. Janits this time was runner-up, while Alex Malykhin of Great Britain came in third overall with a time of 6.187 seconds, while also winning first place in the ProAm class.
Sheikh Salman ranked third among the GCC countries, ahead of Ahmed Al-Shehab from Kuwait and Al-Esayi.
Malikhin was joined by Donchev and Al-Shehab on the ProAm podium, both of whom completed the top five.
Am class podiums featured Chassang, Thomas and Mekvabishvili.
Levy again set the fastest lap, recording a mark of 2:03.160.
There are six public rounds in the 2022/2023 season of the Porsche Sprint Challenge Middle East. Round three will take place at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi on January 28th and 29th, followed by round four on February 4th and 5th at the Dubai Autodrome.
The series then returns to the Bahrain International Center for the penultimate session from March 3-5 to support the Bahrain Formula 1 Grand Prix, before heading to Jeddah for the Saudi Formula 1 Championship.
The Grand Prix from March 17 to 19 for the season finale.