In the second round of Qatar Superstock 600, the exciting and thrilling battle that we saw in the opening round, continued between Mashel al-Naimi and Saeed al-Sulaiti.
After the Superpole, it was clear that al-Sulaiti would push very hard to win as the registered the best lap time, 2:04.578, and grabbing his first-ever pole position at Losail International Circuit. “I am very happy to get my first pole position at Losail and I feel very good today on the bike. So I will push to the limit for the victory,” said al-Sulaiti after the Superpole.
In the first race, al-Sulaiti took the lead during almost half of the race, with al-Naimi very close to him. In the fifth lap, al-Naimi overtook al-Sulaiti but stayed in front only for one lap, as al-Sulaiti regained the first position in the next lap.
Al-Sulaiti knew that al-Naimi was faster than him on the straights so he pushed to the limit to create as much gap as possible from al-Naimi, in order to reach the last corner with the maximum difference but al-Naimi managed to pass him with just two laps to go and take the victory.
“The race was good. I had a good start and was leading the first five laps and then I saw Mishal right behind me so I Iet him lead for a few laps and stayed behind him to study him a bit. I did that and it worked as I was able to overtake him. I was trying to increase the gap towards the end of the race but then the weather changed. This meant more wind and I was losing fractions of a second and he caught me again. He overtook me with two laps to go. In the last lap, I tried to overtake him again but he knew the spot I was planning to overtake him and unfortunately we passed one of the overlapped riders and I lost more time again and I could not overtake him,” said al-Sulaiti.
“I suffered a lot because of this weather. I had problems with my arm band from the second lap onwards. I tried to push but I could not,” he added.
“‘I stayed behind Saeed until three laps and before the last lap I tried to see where I can overtake Saeed, this time he was very fast, and he didn’t do any mistake in the race. With this wind I had more advantage in the straight line and I caught him so I stayed in front until the chequered flag,’ said al-Naimi.
The third place was for Nasser al-Malki. “I had a good start but in the first corner I lost the gear so I went off the track. When I came back there were too many riders in front of me and then I tried to pass some riders during three laps but in the end Mishal and Saeed created a big gap and I couldn’t get close to them. The weather changed in the middle of the race so I didn’t want to take any risk, keep the rhythm and finish in third place on the podium,” said al-Malki.
In the second race, the win went to al-Sulaiti just 0.012s ahead of al-Naimi. After the start of the race, al-Naimi took the lead for four laps but Saeed overtook him in the fifth lap. In the last lap, they were riding so close that both bikes touched, al-Naimi went wide and al-Sulaiti went on to win the race.
“I am very happy with this win. I have been training very hard and finally got the result. I tried to push from the beginning. Because in the first race, my plan was to go and then let Mishal stay behind me but it didn’t work. So, in the second race it was a really tight fight from the beginning until the last lap. In the last lap, in the first corner we touched. I want to say sorry to him. I was a bit aggressive but this is racing and we are fighting for the victory,” said al-Sulaiti.

‘Thanks for the support’
“In the end we finished very close and I am really happy that I won. Of course I will try to win again in the next round. I would like to thank everybody who is supporting me. I would also like to thank QMMF and LCSC for their support and also for organising this great championship,” added al-Sulaiti.
“It was a very good race. I struggled a lot to be in the front but today it was very difficult to be in front of Saeed. Today he really pushed to the limit. In the last lap, I tried to overtake him in the straight, but when I arrived to the first corner my gear didn’t engage. And our bikes touched and I went wide. I tried to recover and I pushed in the last lap. In the end his front tyre was barely in front of me,” said al-Naimi.
“This is a good fight for the championship and I hope next time, there will be more fight to show people how challenging and competitive this championship is. I would like to thank Ooredoo for their support, as well as QMMF and LCSC for making this great championship,” added al-Naimi.
Al-Malki against finished in third and Ali al-Shammari in fourth.
“It is a very competitive and strong championship with very fast riders as Saeed, Mishal and Nasser who have a lot of experience in international races. I am having tough battles with Fahad and Ali al-Qubaisi, who have similar timings. I am feeling better with every round and my timing is improving. Thanks to QMMF and LCSC for this championship and their support,” said al-Shammari.
Trophies were presented by QMMF President Abdulrahman al-Mannai, LCSC General Manager & Vice-President Khalid al-Remaihi and QMMF General Secretary Abdulrazaq al-Kuwari.
Al-Naimi is leading the championship with 95 points; al-Sulaiti is second with 85 points and al-Malki third with 64 points. Al-Shammari is fourth with 50 points.
The next round will take place during the Grand Prix of Qatar, from 23rd to 25th March.