1999 Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR Crowned Best of Show at the Second Royal Bahrain Concours

RIFFA, BAHRAIN — The second Royal Bahrain Concours concluded this weekend with a Best of Show winner straight from the golden age of GT racing. Held under the distinguished patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Bahrain, the two-day celebration at the Royal Golf Club in Riffa brought together 85 of the world's rarest and most significant automobiles, up from more than 70 at last year's inaugural edition.

From a pre-war Packard to the latest Gordon Murray T.50s, the field spanned close to a century of design and engineering. The judges awarded Best of Show to the silver 1999 Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR owned by Dr. Khalid M. Abdulrahim (Bahrain), which also won the Sports & Race Classics class. Built to homologate Mercedes-Benz's GT1 racer, which took back-to-back FIA GT Championship titles in 1997 and 1998, the road-going CLK GTR was produced in tiny numbers: just 20 coupés and six roadsters, each powered by a 6.9-litre V12.

The victory gives Dr. Abdulrahim Best of Show for the second consecutive year, after his 1972 Lamborghini Miura SV Shah of Iran took the top honour at the inaugural Royal Bahrain Concours in 2025. His 2005 Maserati MC12 also finished second in Sports & Race Classics, completing a one-two for the collection.

For 2026, the Concours introduced a new judging format. Where owners judged their peers in 2025, this year's classes were assessed by an international panel of experts, chaired by Richard Charlesworth MVO and including legendary Lamborghini test driver Valentino Balboni, with every car judged on its authenticity and originality. Two new classes joined the line-up: the Big Six, tracing Ferrari's halo lineage from the 288 GTO to the F80, and a dedicated class for Mercedes-Benz's Black Series models.

Away from the judging lawns, the weekend offered a considerably expanded programme. Two fashion shows took to the Main Concours Stage: The Gulf Air Fashion Show on Friday evening and Lexus Presents The Fashion Show by Annada on Saturday. Friday also saw the event's first ladies afternoon tea, alongside a display of the falcons and hunting dogs of the Gulf, while Master Talks, including an Aston Martin Legend session and The Vipers, gave guests the stories behind the cars. Live music from Faisal and His Band, AQ's Jazz Experience and DJ Sham ran throughout.

The weekend was also brought to audiences beyond the Royal Golf Club through RBC TV, the event's new broadcast channel, which streamed daily across multiple platforms with presenters Amanda Stretton, David Green, Richard Charlesworth and Sara Essa. Ahead of the main event, concours owners took part in a dedicated Owners Tour on Thursday 5 November, including an off-road experience led by Jetour.

The club displays were reimagined for 2026 as the RBC Car Club, bringing more than 100 specially selected vehicles together under one identity across nine categories, from American, Japanese, German and Italian Icons to the Viper Class, the 44 Class, Bahrain Motor Club and the Under 30 Class. The Best Overall Car Club award, selected by the Steering Committee, went to a Chevrolet Corvette Split Window.

The Concours was supported by an extensive group of partners, led by the Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority (BTEA), Exclusive Banking Partner BBK and Gulf Air. The Kingdom's leading automotive groups were represented by Euro Motors, Behbehani Brothers, Al Haddad Motors (Mercedes-Benz), Ebrahim K. Kanoo (Toyota, Lexus and Jetour), McLaren Bahrain, Fakhro Motors, National Motor Company and Y.K. Almoayyed & Sons, alongside Bapco Energies, Bahrain Jewellery Centre, Bahrain Kuwait Insurance Company, Aluminium Bahrain (Alba), GFH, DHL and Bell Helmets.

James Brooks-Ward, Chairman of the Royal Bahrain Concours, said: "Last year we set out to show what a concours in Bahrain could be. This year, with 85 cars, an expert judging panel and a far bigger programme, we've shown it is here to stay. My thanks go to His Royal Highness for his continued patronage, to the BTEA and our partners, and above all to the owners who brought such remarkable cars to the Royal Golf Club.

"The CLK GTR is a worthy Best of Show. It is one of the great homologation specials, and to see it win in front of a home crowd for a Bahraini collector is a fitting result."

Winners of each class were:

Best of Show: 1999 Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR. Built to homologate the AMG-developed GT1 racer that won the 1997 and 1998 FIA GT Championships, it is one of just 20 road-going coupés.

Patrons Award: 1985 Audi Sport Quattro. Audi's short-wheelbase Group B homologation special, one of only around 214 built.

Steering Committee Award: 1966 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow two-door Limited Edition, coachbuilt by H.J. Mulliner Park Ward and delivered new on 5 November 1966 to H.E. Sheikh Khalifa Al Khalifa, Bahrain's long-serving former Prime Minister, whose K.K. crest it still carries.

Pre-1940 Cars: 1939 Packard, one of the last great American luxury cars built before the Second World War. Second: 1934 Horch 780 B. Third: 1930 Ford Model A Phaeton.

Sports & Race Classics: 1999 Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR. Second: 2005 Maserati MC12. Third: 1985 Audi Sport Quattro.

American Classics & Muscle Cars: 1989 Stutz Bearcat II, one of only 12 built, hand-made in Turin and unveiled at the 1987 Geneva Motor Show. Second: 1958 Buick Limited Convertible. Third: 1954 Chevrolet Corvette C1 Bubble Face.

British Classics: 2000 Aston Martin V8 Vantage Le Mans (V600), one of 40 built to mark 40 years since Aston Martin's 1959 Le Mans win, with a 600 hp twin-supercharged V8. Second: 1957 Bentley S1 Continental Fixed Head Coupé. Third: 1964 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III Chinese Eye.

European Classics: 1954 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing. Fuel injection, a spaceframe chassis and its famous upward-opening doors made the 300 SL an instant icon. Second: 1961 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster. Third: 1967 Lamborghini 400 GT.

Flat Tops: 1988 Italdesign Aztec, Giorgetto Giugiaro's twin-cockpit roadster, built in very small numbers. Second: 2021 Ferrari Monza SP1. Third: 2021 Aston Martin V12 Speedster.

Modern Classics: 1994 Jaguar XJ220, once the world's fastest production car, with just 281 built. Second: 2013 Aston Martin V12 Zagato. Third: 2017 Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato.

Supercars: 2006 Porsche Carrera GT, Porsche's Le Mans-derived V10 supercar, one of around 1,270 built. Second: 2006 Ford GT in Gulf livery. Third: 2008 Lamborghini Reventón.

Hypercars: 1997 McLaren F1. Gordon Murray's central-seat icon remains the fastest naturally aspirated production car ever made. Second: 2022 Ferrari Daytona SP3. Third: 2024 Gordon Murray T.50s.

Big Six: Ferrari: Ferrari 288 GTO, the Group B homologation special that started Ferrari's line of halo models. Second: Ferrari F50. Third: Ferrari F40.

Mercedes-Benz Black Series: Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Black Series.

RBC Car Club award winners were:

Best Overall Car Club (selected by the Steering Committee): Chevrolet Corvette Split Window.

American Icons: Chevrolet Corvette ZR1X. Italian Icons: Lamborghini Aventador SVJ Roadster. Japanese Icons: Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbo. German Icons (presented by Bapco Energies): Porsche 911 (997.2) Turbo S Cabriolet. Viper Class: Dodge Viper ACR Black Edition. 44 Class: Mercedes-Benz 66. Bahrain Motor Club: Porsche Flatnose (white). 30 Under 30 (presented by BBK): Lancia Delta Integrale. Best Manufacturers Car: YangWang U9. Furthest Travelled Car (presented by Gulf Air): Chevrolet Corvette Split Window.

The two-day event, organised by Thorough Events in collaboration with the Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority (BTEA), gathered 85 of the world's most exceptional collector cars alongside more than 100 vehicles in the RBC Car Club.