In the first race, Mishal al-Naimi, who had topped Superpole on Friday, led the race for the first seven laps before al-Sulaiti overtook him and raced to a victory.
Al-Naimi, who wasn’t feel good all week, felt very week during the race causing him to lose concentration. Al-Naimi had to settle for fourth place in the race behind second-placed Abdullah al-Qubaisi and third-placed Nasser al-Malki.
Al-Naimi couldn’t take part in the second race due to his medical condition, which meant that al-Sulaiti had secured the championship. Al-Qubaisi secured the victory in the second race ahead of al-Sulaiti, while Hungarian rider Balint Kovacs completed the podium.
“There are no words to describe my feelings winning the championship again. It has been a very tough season, but the performance and results were better than last year, winning more races than last year. When I crashed in round 2 and 4 I thought that the championship would be very difficult. Reaching the last round one point behind Mishal was a lot of pressure, but at the end of the day we just focused and took the victory. I want to thank to everyone who stood with me, my team, friends, everyone who motivated me and worked really good in the set-up,” beamed al-Sulaiti after his victory.
“I would also like to thank QMMF (Qatar Motor and Motorcycling Federation), (president) Abdulrahman al-Mannai, Losail Circuit Sports Club (LCSC) and Khalid al-Remaihi for this great championship and their support during the season and to Ooredoo for sponsoring me and believing in me.”
Despite a retirement from the deciding race, al-Naimi had a good season overall.
“In general, we had a very good season. Until the last round I had the chance to win the championship. I felt sick mid-week and today, in the first race, I felt very dizzy. I went to the medical centre after the first race and it was a difficult decision not to take part in the second race as I was not fit enough but I didn’t want to take any risk for me and for the rest of the riders,” al-Naimi said.
“Many thanks to QMMF and Losail Circuit Sports Club for this great championship and to Ooredoo for supporting me all this time. I hope to come back stronger next season and fight for the title again.”
Al-Sulaiti had 211 points in the standings, followed by al-Naimi and al-Malki with 180 and 165 points respectively.
In QSTK Trophy, Essa al-Mutawa and Sheikh Jassim al-Thani won the two races respectively, while the former was the first winner of the category ahead of Sheikh Soud al-Thani. Kuwait’s Mohamed al-Zaidan was third overall.
“I am very happy to take the QSTK Trophy championship. It was a long season for me, especially because I was coming back after two seasons. I tried to get my fitness back and we did it. Next season I will join the QSTK category with the top riders and this will make me work harder and more challenging for me, it will be great. Thanks to QMMF and Losail Circuit Sports Club for organising this championship and all the support,” said al-Mutawa.
Sheikh Soud was happy with his performance over the weekend, which was the best of his season. “Today’s round was the best of the championship. Hosting it at night was much better than during the day. Finally, I was able to secure the second position in the championship as there was no chance to fight for the victory after my crash in the previous round. In the second race there was a possibility to fight for the second position but there was nothing to gain, so I preferred not to risk and finish the race.”
QMMF general secretary Abdulrazak al-Kuwari presented the trophies to the winners. “This year has been very successful for all the participants in both the championships. In Qatar Superstock 600 the competition has been stronger between all the riders and it became exciting for all the participants,” al-Kuwari said.
“We have seen the participation of foreign riders from Kuwait, Oman, France and Hungary and this makes the championship more challenging and our goal is that more international riders will join us for the next season.
“I want to thank Losail Circuit Sports Club for all the support, also thank the Minister of Culture and Sports, HE Salah bin Ghanem bin Nasser al-Ali for all the support, and all the riders and drivers that joined this season. Thanks to QMMF and Losail International Circuit staff for all their work to complete a successful season.”
LCSC vice president and general manager Khalid al-Remaihi was happy with this season’s riders and the growing popularity of the championship. “I want to congratulate all the participants for their great performance, thrilling and exciting show they have put up this season. The number of riders has increased and for next season, one of our objectives is to bring in more international riders. Thanks to QMMF, Sponsors, Pirelli and the Minister of Culture and Sports for their support,” he said.