MANAMA, 21 November 2004 — Khalid Mohammed Ali set alight the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir on Thursday night to win Pro Car race in the first ever Drag Race held in the Gulf.

He scorched the $150 million track covering a distance of 500 meters in just 8.62 seconds at a top speed of 253 kph to emerge victorious in the main event of the ‘Rumble in the Desert’.

The event attracted over 5,000 motorsport enthusiasts young and old who lapped up the thundering roar of engines dished out by drivers and riders from all over the Gulf. The Drag Race was conducted in three categories: Rare Wheel Drive, Front Wheel Drive and Pro Cars.

Salman Khalid, Loay Abdulrahman, Walid Mansour, Hussein Abdulrahman, Anwar Ramadhan and Khalid Zaman were the winners in the other categories.

The auto show where more than 100 cars of European, Japanese, American origin and Classical cars in addition to 90 motorbikes were on display.

The winners were Jamal Thani’s Black Camero and Salah Salahuddin’s Mazda RX7 won two prizes apiece in the auto show.

The Rumble in the Desert was organized by E K Kanoo and supported by a host of premium sponsors.

Many competitors and fans traveled from far and wide across the GCC to participate giving the event an international flavor.

The winners of the 11 Motorbike segments were: Samer Al-Erayedh, Hussein Ali, Mazin Al Khuejha, Alaa Hassan, Essa Kooheji, Abdul Fatah Sahati, Khalid Abdullah, Yasser Al Khan, Naif Ali, Fawaz Baqer and Adel Mutlaq.

The winners of the Motor Show:

American: Black Camero – Jamal Thani; SUV: Durango – Shaikh Saqer Al Khalifa; Japanese: Mazda RX7 – Salah Salahuddin; Best Interior: Mazda RX7 – Salah Salahuddin.

European: Mercedes 6.1 Shaikh Bader Bin Khalid Al Khalifa.

People’s Choice: Black Camero – Jamal Thani.

The Drag Race Winners:

Street Front WD (4 cylinder to 6 cylinder) 1. Salman Khalid 2. Ahmed Aryan 3. Hussein Ahamed; Street Rear WD (4 cyl to 6 cyl) 1. Loay Abdulrahman 2. Anass Al Mula; Street Rear WD (8cyl & up) 1. Walid Mansour 2. Jhon Basnar 3. Mohammed Al Shomali; Super Street Front WD (4cyl to 6cyl) 1. Hussein Abdulrahman 2. Jaber ibn Ali Al Khalifa 3. Mohamed Ali Bou Alresh; Super Street Rear WD (4 cyl to 6 cyl) 1. Anwar Ramadhan 2. Abdulrasool Hassan 3. Shaker Ali; Super Street Rear WD (8 cyl & up) 1. Khalid Zaman 2. Yasser Mohammed Abdulnabi 3. Hussein Hilal; Pro Cars 1. Khalid Mohammed Ali 2. Abass Abdullah 3. Kuwaiti Team.