The second race of the third round of the Qatar SuperStock 600 saw a nail-biting battle between Qatar riders Mishal al-Naimi and Saed al-Sulaiti. This race was scheduled to be held during the MotoGP weekend but was cancelled because of the bad weather conditions.
In the first corner of the first lap, there was contact between Ali al-Naimi and Soud al-Thani and both riders crashed without major injuries but the race was stopped to clean the track.
As soon as the race was re-started, al-Sulaiti, who was on pole position for this race, took the lead and was riding a strong race upfront. Al-Naimi was a constant threat to al-Sulaiti throughout the race and then pulled off a great overtake in the last corner of the last lap to grab a sensational win.   
Al-Naimi was very happy and enjoyed his outing yesterday. “I am very happy. I have been fast during all the sessions and I feel good physically but the bike still needs a good set up. I tried to push from the beginning but Saeed was very fast. I didn’t have a good start and I stayed back to maintain the tyre and in the last corner of the last lap I felt good in the entry, so I overtook him and won the race.  Congratulations to Saeed and Nasser for their podiums and many thanks to QMMF, Losail Circuit Sports Club and to Ooredoo for their support,” said al-Naimi after the race yesterday.
Al-Sulaiti was a bit disappointed not to win after leading the whole race until the last corner. “I had a very good start, and was able to lead the race from the beginning until the last corner of the last lap. While I was entering the corner, I saw Mishal’s tyre and at that moment there was a risk that both of us could crash so I let him pass and tried to pass him from inside again but unfortunately it was not a good idea and finished second by only 0.1seconds. I am happy with the rhythm we had today with all the sessions. I was not in the best shape; my hand is hurting me a lot but I managed the pain and pushed to 100%. Congratulations to Mishal and Nasser for the podium,” said al-Sulaiti.
Finishing third on the podium was Nasser al-Malki and Abdullah al-Qubaisi finished in fourth position. “I feel better but still I need some improvement with the bike as I am stuck with the same lap timing. I have a few problems with the suspension and I don’t feel comfortable. At the beginning, I was close to Saeed and Mishal but they were faster in the second part of the track and they increased the gap.  I hope tomorrow I can fight for the win,” said al-Malki
Al-Naimi also grabbed the Superpole honours when he claimed the top spot on the grid for the fourth round of the QSTK which will be held today. Al-Naimi will try to extend the gap that now is only 10 points ahead of al-Sulaiti.
Al-Sulaiti, who is not 100% fit due to an injured hand, will start from the second place on the grid.
The young rider Abdullah al-Qubaisi did a great time in Superpole and will start in third position.

Al Khelaifi continues to dominate in QTCC
Meanwhile in the third round of the Qatar Touring Car Championship, championship leader Abdulla al-Khelaifi continued to dominate the timings and was the fastest driver in Free Practice yesterday.
Al-Khelaifi was glad to be back into the action. “Great to be back racing! Qualifying went well for me as I was able to do one clean lap from the beginning. I decided to pit early as I thought pushing the car in this hot weather is a bad idea. Judging from the results today, I think tomorrow’s race will be interesting as four drivers will battle for first,” said al-Khelaifi yesterday.
The second fastest driver was Mahmoud al-Khalaf. “It was a nice surprise to finish second as my car’s setup is not perfect yet. I kept pushing till the end and my lap times kept improving. Hope I can maintain my pace in the race tomorrow to finish first,” said al-Khalaf.
Omran Karama did the third best time and Mansour al-Hajri finished in fourth place as he had suspension issues but hopefully he can fix them and today’s race will be more challenging.