Hamad Al Fardan

Infobox racing driver
name = Hamad Al Fardan


pixels =
caption =
nationality = flagicon|Bahrain Bahraini
date of birth = Birth date and age|1987|6|29
place of birth = Manama, Bahrain
current series = GP2 Asia Series
first year = 2008-09
current team = iSport International
car number = 9 (TBC)
former teams =
starts = 0
wins = 0
poles = 0
fastest laps = 0
best finish =
year =
prev series = ATS Formel 3 Cup
Asian Formula Three
British Formula Three
Toyota Racing Series
Formula V6 Asia
Formula BMW Asia
Formula BMW World Final
prev series years = 2008
2007-08
2007
2006-2007
2006
2004-2006
2005
titles =
title years =
awards =
award years =

Hamad Al Fardan (born June 29 1987 in Manama) is an Bahraini racing driver. He is the first Bahraini to drive at GP2 Series level.

Career

Formula BMW

Al Fardan is the son of rally driver Ahmed Al Fardan.cite news| title =Arabian ace tipped for F1 future| publisher =crash.net| url =http://www.crash.net/motorsport/f1/news/159396-0/arabian_ace_tipped_for_f1_future.html| date =2008-02-07| accessdate =2008-09-26] His first experience of formula racing came in 2004, when he drove in the Formula BMW Asia series. In 2005, he undertook a full season in the championship with the Malaysian team Meritus and finished third overall. He also raced in the Formula BMW World Final, finishing in eighteenth position. For 2006, he returned to the series for two races only due to commitments in other championships, winning both of them.

Formula Renault

Al Fardan competed in the Formula Asia V6 Renault championship in 2006, finishing the championship in sixth place with one win despite missing the last four races of the season. He again raced for the Meritus team.

Toyota Racing Series

Al Fardan also drove in the New Zealand-based Toyota Racing Series for 2006, again employed by Meritus. Scoring one race victory, he finished thirteenth in the championship. He remained in the formula for 2007, although he switched teams to Mark Petch Motorsport. In this year he won two races and moved up to eleventh place in the championship. It was a hectic season for Al Fardan, as he also competed in British Formula Three on the other side of the world.

Formula Three

Al Fardan moved to the National Class of the British Formula Three Championship for 2007 (in addition to his TRS commitments), where he established himself as a frontrunner in the series. [cite news| title =Al Fardan out to end on a high| publisher =crash.net| url =http://www.crash.net/motorsport/f3/news/154997-0/al_fardan_out_to_end_on_a_high.html| date =2007-09-27| accessdate =2008-09-26] He finished third in the championship for the Performance Racing team, despite not winning a race.

Over the winter of 2007-08, he moved to the Asian Formula Three Championship, driving for a national team sponsored by the Arabian bank Gulf House Finance. He won both rounds of the season-opener at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia, [cite news| title =Al Fardan takes Asian F3 opener| publisher =crash.net| url =http://www.crash.net/motorsport/f3/news/157537-0/al_fardan_takes_asian_f3_opener.html| date =2007-11-24| accessdate =2008-09-26] [cite news| title =Al Fardan doubles up in Asia| publisher =crash.net| url =http://www.crash.net/motorsport/f3/news/157627-0/al_fardan_doubles_up_in_asia.html| date =2007-11-26| accessdate =2008-09-26] and two further races, but could only finish fourth in the championship. Following his performance in 2007, Toyota F1 test driver Kamui Kobayashi tipped him to become the first Middle Eastern driver to make it to Formula One.

Al Fardan moved to the German ATS Formel 3 Cup for 2008, where he was placed eleventh in the final standings, although his season was disrupted by injury. [cite news| title =Kart Zone now open following gripping exhibition race| publisher =bahraingp.com.bh| url =http://www.bahraingp.com.bh/news.read.aspx?id=316| date =2008-09-08| accessdate =2008-09-26]

GP2 Series

Al Fardan has signed for the iSport International team to compete in the 2008-09 GP2 Asia Series season, becoming the first Bahraini and Arabian driver to race at this level. His backing from Gulf Finance House also means that the team will change its name to GFH Team iSport for the duration of the series. [cite news| title =iSport announces Asia Series sponsor, driver| publisher =crash.net| url =http://www.crash.net/motorsport/gp2/news/167501-0/isport_announces_asia_series_sponsor_driver.html| date =2008-08-11| accessdate =2008-09-26]

Racing record

Career summary

References

* [http://www.driverdb.com/drivers/3838/career/ Career statistics] from "driverdb.com". Retrieved on September 26 2008.

External links

* [http://www.hamad-alfardan.net/#/hamadalfardancom/4530538837 Official website]