Faisal of Saudi Arabia extended his lead in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East Friday with a brilliant drive to record his fourth victory in five rounds at Yas Marina Circuit here. It was the most impressive win of the series so far for Prince Abdulaziz after Bahrain's Sheikh Salman Bin Rashid Al-Khalifa had clinched pole position and made a flying start to the fifth round of the new one-make Porsche championship. Saudi's Bandar Alireza claimed third place after Abu Dhabi's Khaled Al-Qubaisi saw his hopes of a first podium finish shattered by a collision with the championship leader's teammate and cousin, Prince Khalid Al-Faisal. With Saudi drivers Bandar Alesayi, Faisal Binladen and Raed Abuzenadah completing the top six, the podium positions were decided by two moments of drama which closely followed each other on the fourth and fifth of 12 laps. First Al-Qubaisi and Prince Khalid collided when tussling for third place leading into a tight corner, with both spinning off the track, the incident dropping the Saudi and the Emirati driver from contention. The battle for the lead had been dramatic at times as Prince Abdulaziz piled the pressure on Sheikh Salman who nevertheless looked in control and capable of converting pole position into his first win of the 12 round series, which is sponsored by Michelin and Mobil 1. But when he went wide on the next lap Prince Abdulaziz took his chance and powered his way through to take the lead, and did not look like losing it from the point on. After successive victories on home territory last month following an open round victory in Bahrain, his latest success extended his lead in the championship to 25 points from Prince Khalid, with Sheikh Salman climbing to third place. __
