The Porsche Carrera Cup Middle East started its third season during the weekend of the FIA World Endurance Championship finale at the Bahrain International Circuit. Porsche one-make racing has a long and successful tradition in this region: since its very first start in 2009, the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East quickly established itself as the most professional and successful series in the area. In 2019, it was renamed the Porsche Sprint Challenge Middle East, further building on its success – and now, as the Porsche Carrera Cup Middle East, it continues this story.

After two free practice sessions on Thursday, qualifying on Friday confirmed what could already be seen: newcomer Taichi Watarai and his team Seven X Seven are a very strong addition to the PCCME line-up. The 21-year-old from Japan, who can count on a few outings in the Japanese Porsche Carrera Cup, secured pole position for both races.According to normal procedures, the fastest lap of each driver counted for the Race one grid, the second-fastest for Race two.

For Race one, Alexandra Vateva, the only female driver in the series, made it to the front row of the grid beside Watarai, with Bankcy from Japan – the second Seven X Seven driver – in P3 as the best of the ProAm drivers. Khaled Alahmadi from Saudi Arabia, in P7 overall, was the best of the GCC drivers, with Krister Andero from Sweden topping the Masters class.

For Race two, it was Frenchman Cédric Chassang as thebest ProAm driver in P2, ahead of Max Mutschlechnerfrom Italy – the South Tyrolean being an absolutenewcomer to the PCCME. Alahmadi in P4 overall andAndero in P10 again led their respective classes.

Caleb Sumich, rated as one of the favorites for this yeardue to some very strong performances in the 2024/25season, had a rather unlucky qualifying session withseveral lap times deleted due to track limits and so hadto settle for P4 on the grid for Race one and even P13 –at the very end of the grid – for Race two.

Under the bright lights of Bahrain International Circuit, the first race on Friday night took place in a very specialatmosphere. Watarai took the lead from pole position, while Sumich, after a good start, immediately attacked Vatevafor P2. Unfortunately for the Bulgarian, the only female driver in the field, slight contact caused damage to the coolingsystem of her car, forcing her to retire one lap later. Sumich soon closed in on Watarai, the two having a hard fight withthe lead changing twice until, on lap 6 out of Turn 11, there was contact that sent Sumich into a spin and dropped himback to P6. After the race, the stewards declared the collision a “racing incident,” so no penalties were given.

With Watarai now clearly ahead of the field, Bankcy in P2 was the ProAm leader ahead of Sam Shahin from Australia, who came under pressure from his fellow countryman Sumich, trying everything to recover as much ground as possible after his mishap. Shahin managed to defend the final podium position in the last two laps. Khaled Alahmadi in P5 overall was the GCC winner, while Petr Brecka from the Czech Republic secured the Masters win.

In Race two, Alexandra Vateva was the star of the firstlaps. While Watarai pulled away at the front, she movedfrom P6 on the grid to P3 by lap 4 and even closed thegap to Chassang in P2. Meanwhile, the unluckyweekend for Caleb Sumich continued. After a good startfrom P13, he had already made it up to P8 whencontact with Saud Al Saud caused damage to thecooling system of his car and an early retirement afterlap 3.On lap 9, Vateva tried everything to pass Chassang, but the Frenchman managed to defend his position, even thoughhe was clearly slower. Khaled Alahmadi was able to take advantage of the situation, closing in on both and finallypassing Vateva for P3. A final attack on Chassang was not successful; nevertheless, the GP Elite driver remained in P2,17.7 seconds behind Watarai, who is now also the championship leader with the maximum 50 points, ahead ofChassang and Alahmadi with 29 each.Team Seven X Seven, supported by former Lechner Racing Porsche Supercup driver Harry King as driver coach, alsoleads the team championship with 77 points. Further back in the field, Krister Andero this time won the Masters classahead of Brecka – both now having scored 45 points so far.

At a great weekend for Porsche, where Porsche customer team Manthey secured the LMGT3 title with factory driver Richard Lietz from Austria, Riccardo Pera from Italy, and Ryan Hardwick from the USA in the WEC finale, Series Head and Promoter Robert Lechner was very happy about the start of the season.

Robert Lechner, CEO, Head & Promoter: „We had a great weekend here at BIC, as a supportevent of the FIA World Endurance Championship finale,and were able to provide great racing andentertainment to all our fans and partners. We are verythankful for the great reception we always receive inthis part of the world. We always feel very welcomeand comfortable here.“Objects of desire: The trophies await their new owners.Back-to-back winner: Taichi Watarai is receiveing the Rookie-Trophy from PCCME General Manager Michael Schöch.Only at Bahrain: Saud Al Saud of team Saudi racing in front of theiconic Sakhir Tower at Bahrain International Circuit."