Jaffar, Abu Issa victorious in Qatar Int’l Endurocross

By Sports Reporter/DohaKuwaiti rider Mohamed Jaffar won the second round of the Qatar International Endurocross  at Sealine yesterday. The Kuwaiti rider won both races and is now leading the E1 category with 97 points. Jaffar had an intense battle in both races with Emirati rider Mohamed al-Balooshi and the Briton Benjamin Menzies.  His compatriots Meshary Abou Shaibah and Barak al-Jasmi ended in second and third place respectively in the E1.“First of all I want to thank QMMF for the great efforts they put in every time to do this nice loop in the Sealine area. In the first race there was a big battle between me and my coach Mohamed al-Balooshi and it is always an honour for me to race with him and to reach the finish line with the Middle East champ and Arab Legend,” Jaffar said.In the E2 category, the first place went to the British rider Benjamin Menzies who finished second and first, respectively, in the two races. The Emirati rider Mohamed al-Balooshi came in second and LeRoy Botha from South Africa finished third.“The track today was really good, really technical, I really liked it, it suits my bike. In the first race I was a little bit off the pace. Jaffar and Balooshi were riding very fast and I couldn’t catch them but in the second race I got a very good start and I found the pace when I was following them and from there I pulled away. Overall I can say I ride with very respectful guys and nobody can take anything away from any of us because we all fought for the position,” Menzies said.In the veterans’ class, victory went to Canadian rider Luc Dubois. Tomi Sarivaara from Finland and Tariq al-Hattab from Kuwait finished second and third.Qatar’s  Mohamed Abu Issa won in the Quads , taking the win in both races while Frenchman Anthony Benon was second and Mohamed al-Khulaifi third .QMMF President Nasser Khalifa al-Attiyah was very happy with the quality of the competition.“It is great to see so many participants, especially the young riders from Qatar and elsewhere,” he said. He made a special mention of Quads champion Mohamed Abu Issa. ‘Mohamed Abu Issa has managed in a short period of time to put his name on the world map in the quads category, so he is enriching this championship and I wish him all the best in his coming participation in the Dakar Rally at the beginning of next year.”Standings after Round 2E1 categoryMohamed Jaffar 97Meshari Abou Shaba 84Moath al-Ansari 74Barak al-Jasmi 73E2 categoryMohamed al-Balooshi 91Le Roy Botha 74Michael Anderson 74Dean Farrel 62VeteransLuc Dubois 94Tomi Sarivaara 92Yannic Le Gourvennec 76Jaco Anderson 64QuadsMohamed Abu Issa 93Fahad al-Musallam 73Antony Benon 72Paul Holmes 69