Dubai: The UAE’s Bashar Mardini felt he had “definitely improved” as a racing driver as he looked back at the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East’s season which concluded with the Bahrain leg earlier this week.
The main aim for Mardini was to drive a full consistent season in the championship, he has featured in the past as a guest driver but wanted more, and to understand what a championship like the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East could offer him at a later stage of his driving profession.
“I had some ideas as to what I wanted to achieve in terms of finishing positions and performances, and I have definitely seen across the season where I need to go from here. I set myself targets of finishing in the top 10, making the silver podium on more than one occasion, and trying to finish a race in the top six overall. I finished 10th in the championship, featured on the silver podium twice and finished in sixth position in one race this season, so overall I think I did quite well,” Mardini reflected.
“I’ve definitely improved as a racing driver, my team has helped me work with my overall speed and qualifying times and that has helped me to adapt to the car and the high level of driving in the series. I’ve learnt a lot about my own mentality and confidence on and off the track, so moving forward this will definitely help me progress at a quicker rate wherever I drive next,” he said.
The Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East prides itself on being the only professional one-make racing series in the region that offers, not only a platform for young aspiring drivers to develop, but also a route into motorsport for more experienced and established drivers that have not had the opportunity to compete at this level.
