The Peninsula
Young Qatari rider Abdullah Al Qubaisi clinched maiden double win at the Qatar Superstock 600 Championship, shocking points leader Saeed Al Sulaiti in both the third round races at Losail International Circuit, yesterday.
Al Qubaisi got his first victory of the season with a total time of 27:30.373 and crossed the finish line in front of points leader, Al Sulaiti with a lead of 0.836 seconds.
Although Al Sulaiti managed to lead in best part of the race, a mistake in the final lap cost him dearly, allowing Al Qubaisi to overtake him to earn top spot. However, managed to take second position with Mishal Al Naimi grabbing third spot.
The podium results remained the same in the second race, but this time Al Sulaiti was even close, losing the race by only 0.080 seconds.
“I am very happy with my first double win in this championship,” a delighted Al Qubaisi said after winning back-to-back races.
“In the beginning, I tried to stay behind Saeed (Al Sulaiti) to save the tyres and the energy. The plan was to overtake him in the finals laps and I managed to do that. I have been working very hard and looking forward to the next round,” he added.
Al Sulaiti lauded Al Qubaisi for his outstanding performance, yesterday.
“In the first race, I tried to maintain the tyers but the guys were very competitive. Unfortunately, in the last lap of first race, I made a mistake and went off the track, which allowed Abdullah to pass
me. I am really happy for him, he deserved the win as he has been working very hard,” said Al Sulaiti. “The second race was a fight between me and my student, Abdullah. In the last two laps,
Abdullah was a bit aggressive and I didn’t want to take the risk and lose the championship points, so I decided to finish second and maintain the championship lead,” he added.
Al Sulaiti is still leading the championship with 140 points while Al Qubaisi jumped to second place with 119 points. Al Naimi is third with 104 points.
Al Naimi was unhappy as he faced problems with the tyers during the race.
“The bike was very good with the used tyres during the practice sessions but when I changed to new tyres for the race, I had a problem with the front fork.
“I tried to push from the beginning but it was not possible so I changed all my strategy to just finish the race with the best result and be at the podium. For the next track day, I will try to do different settings and hope it will work better,” said Al Naimi.
In the QSTK Trophy, Jassim Al Thani bagged another double win in his category with Mohamad Al Zaidan falling behind him in both races.
For first time in the season, Kuwaiti rider Mohammad Al Eidi finished in the podium in third place. Nawaf Al Shuaibi finished third in the second race at the Trophy category.
“The first race was very competitive so for me to achieve the third place is amazing,” said Al Eidi.
Jassim Al Thani is leading the QSTK Trophy championship with 150 points followed by Mohamad Al Zaidan (120 points) and Hassan Al Mansoori (75 points) respectively.
Trophies were presented by Salem Al Mohannadi (QMMF Board Member), Mohamad Al Kubaisi, (QMMF Board Member), Abdulrazak Al Kuwari (QMMF General Secretary) and Khalid Al Remaihi (LCSC General Manager and Vice President).
The fourth round will take place from February 8 to 9, 2019.