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Batelco make triumphant return

Batelco lived up to Julius Caesars famous ‘I came, I saw, I conquered’ quote as the multiple Kartdrome endurance champions opted out of last year’s championship to focus on racing abroad.

Winners Batelco leads second placed CG Racing Pro during the Kartdrome 12 Hours. — Supplied photo

It was a classic case of ‘Veni, vidi, vici’ for Batelco as they powered to a thrilling victory in the Kartdrome 12 Hours, Round 1 of the Endurance Championship driven by Mini, while reigning champions CG Racing 1 took top honours in the Corporate category and victory in the prestigious Nations Cup going to the all Emirati team Dubai-5. A mix of 30 top professional teams and amateur outfits gathered for battle in the season opener.

Batelco lived up to Julius Caesars famous ‘I came, I saw, I conquered’ quote as the multiple Kartdrome endurance champions opted out of last year’s championship to focus on racing abroad. They returned this year with their powerful line- up of Mohamed Mattar, Alban Varutti and Ramez Azzam led by team manager Ali Abbas. But it was not plain sailing for the Bahraini team who were fortunate to benefit from a mid-race safety car situation, when a fast section of the track needed to be repaired after a driver collided into the retaining tyre wall. He was not seriously injured. At that point Batelco were chasing CG Racing Pro who had set a blistering pace from qualifying onward.