The Peninsula
Ghanim Al Maadheed won both the races in the penultimate round of Qatar Touring Car Championship (QTCC) held this weekend at the Losail International Circuit.
In the QTCC 2K Class, the Lotus Elise driver, Al Maadheed, won both races in his category and now has a lead of 19 points in the championship standings over his nearest rival Ibrahim Al Abdulghani.
A record number of 28 participants took part in the round.
In the first race, Al Maadheed finished in first place with a total time of 25:07.938, followed by Mohamed Al Aseeri and Abdulaziz Abdulla.
With the reverse grid in the second race, it took only one lap for Al Maadheed to overtake the front cars and take the lead in his category.
Al Maadheed won the second race in front of Hamad Al Asam and Abdulaziz Abdulla.
Al Maadheed was very happy with his performance at the end of the round.
"Two amazing and great races with no problems at all with the car. Hopefully the last round will be the same and I can take the title" said Al Maadheed.
Abdulaziz was delighted to step on the podium for the first time.
"It was a great weekend for me with great races, a lot of action and I enjoyed a lot. With the reverse grid in the second race it was more exciting and I am very happy to be back on the podium after long time," stated Abdulaziz.
In the QTCC M240 Class, Hamad Al Sulaiti won the first race with a total time of 22:43.617 followed by Saadon Al Kuwari and Abdulla Al Khelaifi.
In the second race of QTCC M240, with the reverse grid, Nasser Al Kuwari who started from fourth position, lead the race from the first lap and crossed the chequered flag with a total time of 22:45.476.
Al Khelaifi and Al Sulaiti finished second and third respectively in the second race.
Al Sulaiti, who is leading the QTCC M240 championship with a lead of 8 points over Al Khelaifi, was extremely happy with the result.
"This weekend has been very positive for me. I took my first pole position, first and third place in the races and leading the championship. The car is very good but we need to keep working until the last round as it will be very tight and competitive" said Al Sulaiti.
Al Khelaifi, second in the standings, had some issues with his car during the practice sessions and struggled to do a good lap timing in the qualifying but he was happy with his race results.
"The first race was very difficult, I was trying to catch Hamad (Al Sulaiti) but he was very fast and the pressure from Saadon (Al Kuwari) was immense but I managed to finished third.
"In the second race, it was more challenging. I started in a better position from the grid but unfortunately for me Nasser had a better start. I managed to take second place and close the gap but wasn’t enough. Happy with the results so far, staying on the podium for both races is a good sign and hope to finish the season with no major issues," said Al Khelaifi.
The second race winner and third in the standings, Nasser was very happy with his results
Trophies were presented by Abdulrahman Al Mannai, Qatar Motor and Motorcycling Federation (QMMF) President, Abdulrazak Al Kuwari, QMMF General Secretary and. Khalid Al Remaihi Losail Circuit Sports Club Vice President and General Manager).
The fifth and last round of Qatar Touring Car Championship will be held on March 13 and 14 as support race for the Superbike World Championship.