WYSWIG: Feel the Excitement!

For the fourth year, Bahrain hosts the Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix on April 4-5-6 as the third round of the FIA Formula One World Championship. Bahrain is proud that its event is one of only a handful of Grand Prix races around the world to be played out to a capacity crowd. The buildup to Bahrain’s Grand Prix always begins early.

Official Formula One testing has been under way since the beginning of February as the teams make their last minute adjustments prior to the first race of the year in Australia. With the drivers and teams in town, the Yalla Bahrain calendar of cultural and community events kicked off last weekend. Get the latest news about the Bahrain Grand Prix at www.bahraingp.com.bh/.

Supporting the main event in the first week in April, will be a host of other races starting with the GP2 category, which has proven to be the launch-pad into Formula One for young stars like Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. Then, all-action racing and powerful machinery, blend for the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup. This is an event where a field of 30 technically identical 997 GT3 cars demonstrate the superiority of their drivers and supporting teams. Finally, the Grand Prix will also be the biggest weekend of the year for local racing talent, with the final round of the Lumina CSV Championship Middle East. Defending champion Tarek Elgammal from Australia, Bahraini talents Fahad Al-Musalam, Raed Raffii and Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Egypt’s Ahmed Hamada and Saudi Arabia’s Abdulaziz Al-Yaeesh are among the front-runners in the biggest circuit racing series in the Gulf.

While April will be a great month for racing at Sakhir, the Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) offers events year round. One of the most popular activities is karting. The focus is on fun at the BIC’s kart circuit. It’s a place to arrive and drive, gaining confidence and experience with expert advice on hand, and full safety backup. Every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday the circuit is open for bookings where you hire your kart and equipment for between 10 minutes and one hour.