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Event Information:
The
Bahrain Grand Prix is a Formula One
Championship race which first took
place at the Bahrain International
Circuit on 4 April 2004. The Bahrain
Grand Prix, sponsored by Gulf Air,
made history as the first Formula
One Grand Prix to be held in the
Middle East. Bahrain fought off
fierce competition from elsewhere in
the region to stage the race, with
Egypt, Lebanon and the United Arab
Emirates all hoping for the prestige
of hosting a Formula One Grand Prix.
The
building of the Bahrain
International Circuit in Sakhir was
started in 2002 with high domestic
interest about the project as it
gave a future to the next generation
of Bahraini racers. By the
completion of the project, the
circuit soon outshone the Kuwait
Circuit and became the center of
motor sport in the Arabian Gulf, as
it held many other races such as
drag races, GT races, Formula 3
races and the Australian V8 Supercar
series.
The
first race was in 2004 and it was
won by German driver Michael
Schumacher for Ferrari. Fernando
Alonso won the second Bahrain Grand
Prix for Renault in 2005, and then
became the first repeat winner of
the Middle Eastern race in 2006
(again for Renault), after a
thrilling race-long battle with
Michael Schumacher. In 2007 and
2008, Brazilian Felipe Massa won the
race for Ferrari. 2009 saw Jenson
Button win for Brawn GP. Alonso
became the first three-time winner
after his 2010 triumph.
In the
shadow of reports of ongoing use of
excessive force by authorities and
torture in detention. Some
anti-government protesters have
called for a cancellation of the
Bahrain Grand Prix . One unnamed
team principal was quoted in
Britain's The Guardian newspaper 9th
of April said that all the
teams hoped the FIA would call off
the race. He added "I feel very
uncomfortable about going to
Bahrain. If I'm brutally frank, the
only way they can pull this race off
without incident is to have a
complete military lockdown there.
And I think that would be
unacceptable, both for F1 and for
Bahrain. But I don't see any other
way they can do it."
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