The Qatar Superstock 600 series has seen some fierce battles between Saeed al-Sulaiti and Mashel al-Naimi and Round four was no different. In the first race yesterday at the Losail International Circuit, al-Naimi trumphed over al-Sulaiti. But in the second race the battling duo crashed into each other on the last lap and al-Sulaiti managed to remount and finish the race in sixth place. This saw him leapfrog al-Naimi in the championship standings and now has a lead of five points with two rounds remaining.     
In the first race yesterday, al-Naimi, starting from pole, was leading for the first two laps. But then his familiar foe, al-Sulaiti, over took him. But al-Sulaiti wasn’t able to shake off al-Naimi and the latter regained the lead in the middle of the race. But then al-Naimi suffered a problem with his brake pads and al-Sulaiti was able to pass him and win the race.    Finishing in third place was Nasser al-Malki who was unhappy with the set-up of his bike. “I didn’t get a good start and after five laps it was difficult for me to ride the bike. I think the setup is not good enough to accommodate my riding style. I need to adjust my riding style to adjust to these 600cc bikes as compared to the 1000cc ones that I’m used to racing,” said al-Malki yesterday.
Teenager Abdullah al-Qubaisi finished fourth and Fahad al-Sowaidi in fifth position. The second race saw even more drama and this time it resulted in a crash. Just like in the first race, al-Naimi was leading for the initial laps but then al-Sulaiti overtook him and was ahead for the rest of the race. In the last lap al-Naimi wrestled back the lead but at turn 12, al-Sulaiti entered the turn too fast, lost his front and crashed. And unfortunately his bike touched al-Naimi’s and both went down.
Luckily for al-Sulaiti, he was able to rejoin the race and went on to finish the race and get valuable points. Sadly for al-Naimi, his bike was damaged and he couldn’t continue.
With the top duo crashing, al-Malki, who was in third at that moment, got the win. Al-Qubaisi finished second and Ali al-Shammari third.
The 17-year-old al-Qubaisi was very happy with his first podium. “I am very happy with my first podium of this season as I didn’t expect to have such a good result because of gear problems in the last five laps. I managed to step onto the podium due to the crash of Saeed and Mishal, but this is racing. Many thanks to QMMF, LCSC and Saeed for their continuous support,” said al-Qubasi after the second race.
Al-Shammari was happy to be back on the podium. “I am very happy to be back on the podium. My start of the race was good but after some laps, I had engine problem and I never thought I would get this good result. Bad luck for Mishal and Saeed and hope that in the next round I can improve my rhythm and be faster,” he said.
Trophies were presented by Sultan Zaher al-Morraikhi, QMMF Executive Director.
The next round will take place on 5th & 6th May.