JEDDAH — Saudi Falcons duo Abdulaziz Al-Faisal and Faisal Bin Laden have turned their attention to Yas Marina for Rounds 3 and 4 next week after pleasing performances in the opening rounds of the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East in Bahrain. Reigning champion Al-Faisal, who finished on the podium in the first two rounds, is looking forward to the prospect of racing on one his favorite tracks and getting back to winning ways. Al-Faisal is hoping his title challenge will start at the famous Formula One track in December. He said: “I have a good record in the UAE but we will have to formulate a good strategy in Round 3 and 4 to overcome Schmid, who is one of the fastest drivers on the grid and in good form, as he showed in Bahrain.” The Saudi put on satisfactory performances as he pushed double weekend winner Clemens Schmid all the way in both the rounds. In Round One, having led the race until nine laps to go, he was overtaken by the Austrian, who went on to win the opening race of the season. In Round Two, Al-Faisal, starting second on the grid, pushed the Austrian hard, but was not given a chance to produce a grandstand finale in the latter stages of the race as the Austrian pulled away to make it a memorable weekend for himself. Fellow teammate Bin Laden was in a battle against the newcomers to the circuit, Zaid Ashkanani and Christina Nielsen, to finish in the top six. In Round 1, the debutants produced fantastic performances as the young Saudi finished seventh. Despite a straightforward win for Schmid in Round two, the real battle was to fill the rest of the top six positions. Emirati and Al-Nabooda Racing's Karim Al-Azhari finished fourth, with Bin Laden taking fifth, by holding off a spirited challenge from Ashkanani, who finished sixth. Bin Laden said: “It was a tough race as Zaid and I were neck and neck through most of it. He was behind me and we were literally almost touching throughout the race and every time I looked behind he was there. I had to fight and keep defending the whole time, but it was a very good race and I'm happy with the points. I'm starting to get more comfortable and I'm looking forward to the next round in Yas and hopefully I can continue to do better with each race.” — SG
