Rival Mashel al-Naimi had won the first race of the sixth round by a mere 0.010 seconds, locking the title battle at 230 points.
In the second, al-Sulaiti kept closing in on al-Naimi steadily, with the latter facing some problems with his bike that cost him dearly. Al-Sulaiti crossed the chequered flag a commanding 13.804 seconds ahead of al-Naimi to lift the championship trophy, collecting five more points at 255.
Nasser al-Malki notched up two more third-place finishes in the sixth and final round of the championship, taking his total tally of points to 201.
In the first race, al-Naimi, starting from pole position, had a good start and pushed to create a gap, but only managed to lead the race for the first five laps. In the sixth lap, al-Sulaiti overtook him. Al-Naimi, however, took advantage of his straight line speed, and passed al-Sulaiti in the final lap.
Al-Malki and Fahad al-Sowaidi were penalised three places on the grid for practising the start during warm-up. Nonetheless, al-Malki finished third, while al-Sowaidi was fifth behind young rider Abdullah al-Qubaisi.
In the second race, al-Naimi once again pushed hard from the beginning but had some trouble with his bike. Al-Sulaiti noticed his rival’s problems and kept reducing the gap with each passing lap, eventually taking the lead in the seventh. Al-Sulaiti’s rhythm meant that he won 13.804 seconds ahead of al-Naimi.
Al-Malki, al-Qubaisi and al-Sowaidi completed the top-five in that order.
“First of all I want to thank QMMF, Mr. Abdulrahman al-Mannai, Losail Circuit Sports Club, Mr. Khalid al-Remaihi, for supporting all the riders in the championship and big thanks to Ooredoo for sponsoring me in this season. Also thanks Team Saeed, all the people who stood by me; I couldn’t have achieved this without them. They motivated me from the first to the last lap,” an elated al-Sulaiti said.
Reflecting on his race performance, he said, “The first race was really difficult. I had a bad start and I got stuck behind Abdullah (al-Qubaisi) for a few corners. When I had finally passed him, the gap on Mashel was almost 2 seconds. I pushed myself to the limit, and overtook him. I led the race until the last lap, but as usual, Mashel is stronger in straight lines and we crossed the line with a difference of only 0.010. I was really angry but I had another chance.
“In the second race, I didn’t have a good start. My quick shift was not working properly, so I had to shift manually. Mashel too had some problem with his bike, and I eventually passed him in the seventh lap. I kept my rhythm and was really happy to win the race and the championship.”
Championship runner-up al-Naimi congratulated al-Sulaiti for his victory.
“The first race was tough. I pushed right from the beginning and the weather too was very hot. But I was happy to win the race. In the second race, I again pushed from the beginning and led the race until I had some problems with the bike. Saeed deserves the title, he is a very good rider. No mistakes, except for the one in the fourth round when he pushed me out and I crashed. I couldn’t get any points in that race, but that is racing,” al-Naimi said.
“I am happy with my overall performance. I improved with every race and I want to thank Ooredoo and big thanks to QMMF and LCSC because they organised a very good championship. Congratulations to Saeed, Nasser and all the other riders for a good performance.”
Seventeen-year-old al-Qubaisi finished fourth in the standings with 146 points, while Ali al-Shammari and al-Sowaidi were fifth and sixth with 138 and 123 points respectively.
Trophies were presented by QMMF president Abdulrahman al-Mannai, QMMF general secretary Abdulrazak al-Kuwari and Qatar Centre Motorcyclist director Mohamed al-Kubaisi.
