The Peninsula
Saeed Al Sulaiti and Jassim Al Thani repeated victories again in the second round of Qatar Superstock 600 held this weekend at Losail International Circuit.
In the first race of the round, the poleman of the weekend, Al Sulaiti, managed to take the lead from the start until the checkered flag. Al Sulaiti clocked a total time of 23:13.147 to complete the 12 laps. Abdulla Al Qubaisi finished second and Mishal Al Naimi came third.
Al Qubaisi, who started in second place at the grid, stayed in this position during the first two laps but Al Naimi overtook him and was in the second place for five laps. In the last part of the race, Al Qubaisi gained again the second position and kept it until the end.
Nasser Al Malki and Balint Kovacs finished fourth and fifth respectively.
In the QSTK Trophy category, the win was again for Jassim Al Thani who finished sixth overall. Kuwaiti Mohammad Al Zaidan and Hassan Al Mansoori completed the QSTK Trophy podium.
In the second race of the day, Al Sulaiti won again but this time, the second position was for Al Naimi and Al Qubaisi came third.
For QSTK Trophy, the winners in the second race were exactly the same as the first one, Al Thani stepped on top of the podium with Mohammad Al Zaidan second and Hassan Al Mansoori in third place.
Al Sulaiti was very happy with his double win.
The podium winners of the Qatar Superstock 600 Race 2, Saeed Al Sulaiti (winner, centre), second placed Mishal Al Naimi and Abdulla Al Qubaisi pose for a photograph during the presentation ceremony held at the Losail International Circuit.
“In race one, Mishal was very close to me and I tried to create a gap as I am not ready to fight with the last injuries I have, so I tried to push at the beginning and at the middle of the race I had a comfortable gap. In race 2, also I did the same strategy and I overtook Mishal at the beginning of the second lap in the main straight and then I did my best lap time and create a gap. Unfortunately, in the last four laps, I burnt the clutch and it was really difficult to go back in gears but the gap was safe so I tried to be smooth with the gear and not do anything wrong,” Al Sulaiti said.
The winner in the Trophy category, Al Thani, is improving in each race and managed to do his personal lap time in this round.
“This victory came after a long and hard training and today I did my personal best lap time 2:07.6 which is really good and really looking forward next round to push even harder,” Al Thani commented.
Kuwaiti rider Mohammad Al Zaidan had a crash yesterday during the Superpole 2 but finished second in both races.
“Great races, I pushed hard to go to the first place but I couldn’t. Yesterday I had a big crash during the Superpole 2 and I have pain in my hand, so it was a bit difficult but we are improving each round and hopefully next round will be better,” Al Zaidan said.
Hassan Al Mansoori was delighted with his first double podium in a weekend.
“I am very happy with today results as it is the first time I am in the podium in both races. I have done my personal lap time record and managed to overtake Nawaf Al Shuaibi in the last corner of last race,” Al Mansoori said.
In the standings, Al Sulaiti is leading the championship with 100 points and Al Naimi is second with 72. Al Qubaisi is in the third place with 69 points and Hungarian rider Kovacs is fourth with 55.
Al Thani is leading the QSTK Trophy standings with 100 points and Al Zaidan, with 80 points stands in the second position. Al Mansoori is third with 59 points.
Trophies were presented by Abdulrahmam Al Mannai, Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) President, and Khalid Al Remaihi, Losail Circuit Sports Club (LCSC) Vice President and General Manager.
The third round of Qatar Superstock Championship will be held on January 25 and 26, 2019.