Saudi Arabia's Prince Khalid al Faisal won the second of two Chevrolet races at Yas Marina by a seven-second margin yesterday, but admitted Saturday's race winner Sheikh Salman al Khalifa had him worried for the majority of the 10 laps. Al Faisal finished the Chevrolet Supercars Middle East Challenge in 25mins 49.218secs, a massive 7.663secs ahead of Bahrain's al Khalifa. Last year's championship winner, Fahad al Musalam, came third.
Al Faisal, who started in second position behind al Khalifa, said: "I am very happy with the result. [On Saturday] I was on pole, but lost the position due to some issues with the car. Yet at the end I was on the podium. "Today I was more focused, especially at the start of the race, and I managed to steal the lead from Sheikh Salman. "The car was amazing and that is thanks to the technical team," added al Faisal. "I had a lot of pressure from Sheikh Salman for most of the race so I had to keep my focus, but I believe by the last two laps I was more relieved with less pressure from Sheikh Salman."
Al Khalifa, who narrowly edged out al Musalam during Saturday's race to take first place, added: "I am extremely happy to be on the podium again, I really pushed to win the race again, but it was very tough and competitive." Jeroen Bleekemolen of Konrad Motorsport won the Porsche Supercup title - and, after clinching the title with a second-place finish yesterday, he then was awarded first place in the race as well.
In a dramatic turn of events, the Dutchman was confirmed the title winner after finishing behind the German Rene Rast. But after official classification, Bleekemolen was promoted from second place to first after Rast was subject to a one-second penalty for causing a collision with his rival. gmeenaghan@thenational.ae
