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Podium and fastest lap at Silverstone as race incident costs Al Khalifa first win

Salman Al Khalifa claimed a National Class podium at Silverstone, but was denied the chance to become the first Bahraini racing driver to achieve a class win in the British F3 International Series by a late race incident.

The 2005 Formula BMW Asia champion was battling for the lead with British youngster Stefan Wilson when, as Salman made his bid for victory, the two collided with just two laps of the weekend’s second race remaining. That allowed Welsh racer Hywel Lloyd to take the victory, while Championship leader Jay Bridger also nipped through for second place. Salman recovered to finish third, holding off his T-Sport team-mate Steven Guerrero for the final podium spot, and took a bonus point for the race’s fastest lap.

Having started from third on the grid, Salman made a good start in a frantic opening lap and passed Bridger for second on the second tour. He then closed in on McLaren Autosport BRDC award winner Wilson, as the two pulled well clear of their class rivals, and made a move on the penultimate lap. Having closed right up through Priory, Salman dived down the inside at Brooklands and was almost alongside when Wilson shut the door. Both drivers spun, but although Wilson retired on the spot, Salman managed to control a 360° rotation and keep his Dallara F307 in the race. In the dying stages he closed up to the leaders, but ultimately had to settle for third. His quickest lap of 1:15.540s was good enough to secure his first fastest lap bonus-point of the season.

In the day’s earlier race, Salman took solid points for a fifth place finish, the same position in which he had qualified. Having bogged down a little on the line, the Bahraini dropped down the field by turn 1 at Copse Corner and had to fight back throughout the race. He battled past Craig Reiff and Kristjan Einar, as well as International Class runner Ricardo Teixeira, but lost too much ground on the leaders to finish any higher than fifth.

Al Khalifa admitted he was happy with his fourth podium in five races in what was one of his most encouraging outings to date. “I really enjoyed the race,” he said, “and although it’s a shame to have missed out on a win, I feel we’ve made some more progress. In race 2 I’d worked out where I was faster than Stefan and decided to make my move. What happened was a racing incident as we were both determined to win. He braked later than he had done previously which meant I couldn’t get my nose in front down the inside, so when he turned in we made contact.

“Race 1 was a little frustrating as normally I make good starts. The clutch felt a little strange and I didn’t get away well and dropped right to the back of the field. While I managed some good overtaking manoeuvres to climb the field, I lost too much time fighting the guys at the back to make any impact on the leaders.

“I’d like to thank the team for another great job this weekend.”

 

Double podium for Al Khalifa at Spa

Bahraini racing driver Salman Al Khalifa continued his return to form at the weekend by claiming a double National Class podium in the British F3 International Series’ visit to Spa-Francorchamps.

The Manama born racer finished second and third at the famous Belgian circuit in what was the best performance of the season so far for the 2005 Formula BMW Asia champion. 

Race 1

Having worked hard in practice with his T-Sport race engineer to find a good base set-up, Salman held the provisional class pole for much of Thursday’s qualifying session before his best time of 2:17.784 was bettered by just eight one hundredths of a second by Jay Bridger.

Starting second on the grid, Al Khalifa made a superb getaway and passed Bridger around the outside of turn 1 to take the lead. He also overtook Championship Class runner Ricardo Teixeira in the opening corners and spent the next few laps defending his lead from a charging Stefan Wilson in second. On lap 7, the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award winner managed to force his way past at Les Combes, and although Salman pressured him to the chequered flag, he was forced to settle for a very respectable second place finish.

Race 2

Salman qualified fourth in class for race 2, less than a second behind pole sitter Bridger, and again made a good start as he avoided the chaos of a first corner collision at La Source. Having picked his way past the wreckage of several Championship Class cars, Salman was quickly on the tail of the lead battle as the top four in the National Class fought nose to tail.

A tussle with Wilson for third place saw the pair fighting side by side on the exit of the legendary Eau Rouge corner before Salman’s pass on the English driver in the latter stages of the race saw Al Khalifa take his third consecutive F3 podium and enact revenge having missed out on his first victory in race 1 to the same driver.

Salman: “Spa is one of my favourite tracks and this has been a very enjoyable weekend. In both races I was fighting side by side with other cars at incredibly high speed through Eau Rouge and it was an amazing experience. Two podiums is a good reward for the team and I’m looking forward to carrying that momentum on to the next round at Silverstone, which is another circuit I love.”

Al Khalifa nets podium despite mixed weekend at Croft
 

Bahraini racing driver Salman Al Khalifa took his second National Class podium of the season at the weekend, as the British Formula 3 International Series visited Croft in North Yorkshire.

Driving for reigning champions T-Sport, Al Khalifa finished second in race 2, and limited his race 1 losses by salvaging a handful of points despite suffering with an engine misfire early on. He now sits third in the championship after four races.

With wet conditions dogging the drivers all weekend, Salman struggled to find a clear lap in qualifying for race 1 and was due to start from fifth when an engine misfire on the formation lap forced him into the pits. After urgent repairs, he started from pit lane but was back one lap later as the problem persisted. Having lost three laps, Al Khalifa decided to go back out to get some wet weather running and ran consistently quicker than most of his fellow National Class runners. He eventually finished eighth in class, scoring some crucial championship points.

Qualifying for race 2 went much better for Al Khalifa, setting the second quickest National Class time. After making a good start, Salman was right on the tail of class leader Andrew Meyrick before a multi-car pile-up ahead brought out the red flags. He made another strong getaway from the re-start and chased Meyrick in the opening stages before the Carlin Motorsport driver began to pull away. Salman, however, drove a faultless race for second in class, finishing just two seconds behind International Class runner Walter Grubmuller and over six seconds clear of third placed Hywel Lloyd.

Al Khalifa reflected on his weekend by saying: “The track changed so much during the weekend because of the inclement weather and it was difficult to perfect our set up. I’m pleased we managed to salvage something from race 1 though and in race 2 we finished well clear of the Hywel Lloyd in third. I felt we have the pace and now it’s just a matter of putting everything together over a full weekend and coming away with two strong results. We’re working very hard to improve and we’ll continue to do so before the next round at Monza.”

T-Sport Team Principal Russell Eacott added: “To be fair to Salman he put in a stellar performance in race 1 once we got the car fixed and out of the pits. He came back on track three laps down, but just behind the overall leaders, and he showed great pace to stay with the top ten for the rest of the race. Along with his performance in race 2, I think that was a much fairer reflection of his race pace. He showed stunning pace in testing at Rockingham recently and that shows exactly what he is capable of.”

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