‘It was a great race as Mansoor is getting very close to my timings. I managed to fix the car and after that I got my timings better so I am able to take the win’

Qatari driver Abdullah al-Khelaifi won both races of the Qatar Touring Car Championship yesterday at Losail International Circuit.
Al-Khelaifi started from the second row as he had some electrical problems during the practice session and couldn’t clock a good lap time. But on race day he managed to fix his car and took the lead immediately after the green light.
“It was a great race with tough competition as Mansoor was getting very close to my timings. In fact he did the fastest lap today.  We had a lot of fun, he was fastest in one section and I was in another. I managed to fix the car and after that I got my timings better,” al-Khelaifi said after the race.
Mansoor al-Hajri was on pole position but was overtaken by al-Khelaifi just at the start and maintained the second position during the entire race.
“The race was great.  I had a good start from pole position and as I expected, Abdullah fixed his problem and he is much better now. I fixed an air kit to my car for the first time it improved the handling a lot. But I am not used to it and I tried to stay behind Abdullah as much as possible, but he is really fast,” al-Hajri said.
The third place on the podium went to Omran Karama who was very happy with his position taking into account the problems he had with his car.
“It was a good race, even with the problems I had, but  I cannot complain.
“The weather is fine, a bit dusty but happy with my third place,” Karama said.
The second race added more excitement with the reverse starting grid, as the fastest drivers starting from the back had to work away their way to the front. Al-Khelaifi started from the third row together with al-Hajri and both of them fought hard to reach the first positions before al-Khelaifi finally again took victory.  
‘It was really different this race, I had a long fight with Mansoor to get the first position. The reverse grid also made it harder for me to get Mansoor because of all the other cars around.
“But eventually one mistake cost him the race, but he is getting faster  and we have more fun competing with him. Also, Omran had a problem with his car so I think that if that wasn’t the issue we would have had a three-way  battle for the first position,” said the double winner.
Mansoor al-Hajri ended again in second position.
“With the reverse grid, the second race was even more fun and also Abdullah and myself were faster. We had fun at the beginning of the first laps and after that I made a little mistake and Abdullah found the gap and it was hard for me to catch up with him.
“He is really fast but overall I am very happy with the first round results and hopefully in the next round I can give more challenge,” al-Hajri said.
Karama had a difficult second race as his problems with his car continued and he had to struggle a lot before managing third position.
“I had a tough race, the reverse grid was great, of course it is hard to catch cup with the first and second.  Also, I had overheating in my engine and I had to reduce my speed. I returned back to sixth position and only manage to get to third position on the last turn,”Omran said.
The fourth position was for George Coleman.
“It was a very interesting start from the back, the reverse grid is really an interesting way of doing it. During a lot of time, Shady, Omran and myself were fighting and I managed to hold third position for a while until Omran passed me just four corners before the end. Let’s see how it goes in the next round,” said Coleman.
As the qualifying session is also taken into account for the points, al-Khelaifi and al-Hajri are leading with 28 points. Karama is third with 25 points and Shady El Mohandes fourth with 19 points.
The next round of the Qatar Touring Car Championship is on February 3 and 4.