The latest updates are at the top of the page. Click on your Browser's Refresh button to be sure of seeing the latest news.

Click here to go back to the event index

23:15

We are done for tonight. The marshals have stood down, the track cleaner is out on the strip, and vehicles are going back to the pits.

We will post tonight's pictures tomorrow morning, so stay tuned for those. In the meantime we have posted a report on today's press conference, which you can view by going back to the Event Index page and clicking on your Browser's refresh button.

23:10

One of the latest US imports has just run, a 'sixties 'Vette Pro Mod in McDonalds colours. No word on the driver but I think this was his first time out in the car. A nice burnout and then instant wheelspin at the hit, the driver pedalled but eventually backed off the throttle, 15.30 and the displayed terminal speed of 810.69 kmh probably an error!

22:50

Trev Capewell has just wowed the Test and Tune crowd with a pass in the Southern Rebel Top Methanol Funny Car. A great burnout to about 100 feet which had the spectators cheering and whistling and then hitting spin off the line, pedalling repeatedly and then putting the hammer down, 9.92 at a big 321.58. Trev's crew were cheered the length of the track as they went to pick him up.

Shortly after Trev's run, the timing crew came into the office looking for their spare reflectors as the top end sponges had in their words "Gone, we can't find them".

Adel Khaimiri ran just before Trev and clocked 13.71/203.61 with wheelspin off the line in his Super Street V8 car.

22:05

Adel Box's latest run was a 12.93/149.17 whilst Hassan Yousif clocked 12.80/155.59 on his last pass. A very tidy silver 'Vette whose race number is invisible from here clocked 11.08/216.26.

On two wheels, a couple of Pro Bikes have laid down very good passes, 9.32/250.47 and 9.50/237.36. Again it's impossible to identify the bikes especially from the media centre but we are working on a solution for tomorrow's Festival.

We're on hold for a top-end clean-up, as I type the sweeper is on its way down the track, stay tuned.

21:30

We're on hold for some more track prep, sledding and glue, stay tuned.

21:00

Our European Pro Stock representatives have made their first outings of the week. Richard Sundblom was up first, hitting shake off the line and pedalling a number of times before gently squeezing on more throttle, 9.31/237.91 at the stripe.

Michael Malmgren went next, a hundred foot burnout had the crowd cheering. On the green Michael's tyres spun off the line and the Grand Am went a little out of shape. Michael pedalled and then got back on the throttle, came past me at 500 feet at full chat, and then got off the pedal at half track, 11.15/140.13 showing how much time he lost to the spin.

Ian King started up the engine of his Top Fuel Bike but then shut off again before the burnout.

Pro racer Tariq Hadi has Low ET of the evening for cars with a superb 8.80/240.70 whilst one of the Pro Bike racers whose number I had no chance of seeing clocked 8.72/256.99 and is the fastest and quickest racer on the facility so far.

20:25

Hassan Yousif just had a bit of a wild ride in his Super Street V8 entry, crossing the centre line not long after his opponent had passed and straddling the line for most of the rest of the quarter mile. Luckily he missed the timing reflectors.

Mansoor Hasan who runs in Super Street 4/6 RWD put down a 14.35/139.91 on his last pass whilst fellow RWD racer 571, who is not on the entry list, clocked 15.40/153.44. Ali Mossa's next Pro Street pass was an 11.51/179.16 and Pro racer Abbas Abdulla ran 11.70/193.53. Mohammed Haji was next up at 14.57/151.43 in Super Street 4/6 RWD and Street V8 Championship leader Mohammed Al Shomeili put down an 11.41/194.22.

19:30

The test session has started and one of the things I've just discovered from the media centre, which is at about 500 feet, is that I can't see the race numbers on the vehicles as they come speeding past! With no timing system repeater in here it is going to be difficult to identify racers apart from those who make burnouts as far as our station but we will do the best we can tonight and see what we can do for tomorrow.

A number of our European racers have told me today that they intend to put in at least a launch tonight to get a handle on the track conditions and Michael Malmgren is scheduled to give eighth-mile passenger rides in his Pro Stock.

A lot of racers are off the throttle by the time they get to three hundred feet, test launches obviously the order of the day on the newly-ground and prepped track, but one full pass was from Ali Mossa in his Pro Street entry who clocked 11.72/189.73. Amer Al Khan of the Street 4/6 cylinder RWD class had some wheelspin off the start line and recorded 13.17/170.96.

The best ET by a bike so far as been 9.45/237.52, this by a street bike which was accelerating hard as it came past me here at 500 feet. We just had a bizarre pairing as one rider fell off his Street Bike after his burnout, then the other got into a tankslapper off the start line and came off, the Pro Bike then slid on its side to about 300 feet. Both racers very quickly got up to the cheers of the crowd and are quite OK.

18:55

Good evening and welcome from Bahrain International Circuit on a very pleasant evening. Tonight the contestants in the Drag Racing Festival are taking the opportunity to test before the race proper starts tomorrow, and we'll be bringing you updates on the action in association with American Car Imports.

The Webster Race Engineering/MPM Oil webcam is on-line and broadcasting a picture every two minutes.

The timing crew are carrying out final tests and then the track will be open so stay tuned and we'll start to bring you the highlights.