Saeed al-Sulaiti won both races during the fourth round of the Qatar Superstock 600 yesterday, to take the championship lead. The defending champion is now five points ahead of Abdulla al-Qubaisi.
At the Losail International Circuit, in the first race, al-Sulaiti, who started from pole led the race until the checkered flag with a total time of 25:07.473. Mishal al-Naimi was second followed by al-Qubaisi. The Bulgarian rider Mihail Florov finished in fourth place with Soud al-Thani in fifth.
In the second race too there was no stopping al-Sulaiti as he cruised to the victory with ease, as al-Qubaisi and al-Naimi swapped their positions in the podium. “I am very happy with my results this weekend. For me, to have a hope to win again the championship, it was a must to win both races. Last three rounds were a bit difficult for me and I was not really ready but for this round I prepared very well,” al-Sulaiti said.
“I knew that if in the race I could run in the first four laps, it will be difficult for them to catch me. So in the middle of the first race I created a big gap and in the second race, it was more difficult with the weather but I manager to win,” he added.
Mishal al-Naimi said he had some problems with the bike during the races after he had crashed in the Superpole on Friday. “I started the weekend with the same set up and I didn’t have any problem with the front tyre but when I crashed yesterday in the Superpole I changed the bike and it was not perfect at all. In the race, the bike had a good pace but Saeed was fastest today. Happy to finish second and third and I hope for better results in the last round,” he said.
The double winner of the previous round, Abdulla was not happy with his weekend. “I am not very happy overall. I was not really prepared for this round and Saeed was very fast and very well prepared. Hopefully, I can be stronger in the last round as it will be very difficult,” said al-Qubaisi.
In the QSTK Trophy, Jeremy Parola too the first placed ahead of Rayad al-Emadi and Alexander Qabazard in the first race. In the second, Parola and Emadi repeated the same results but this time the third place went to Hassan al-Mansoori.
In the QSTK 300 Supersport championship, there were two races in this last round. In the first race, Hamad al-Sahouti emerged triumphant, followed by Yousef al-Darwish and Alexian Macary. In the second race, it was close fight between al-Sahouti and al-Darwish, with the latter coming out victorious. Macary finished again in third place.
The results was enough for al-Sahouti to clinch the overall title. “I am very happy for winning this championship. All the races were amazing with amazing fights. It has been a great experience and I want to thank QMA, Losail Circuit and QMMF for this great opportunity,” said al-Sahouti.
Trophies were presented by Abdulrahman al-Mannai (QMMF President), Khalid al-Remahi (LCSC Vice President and General Manager) and Abdulrazak al-Kuwari (QMMF General Secretary)
The fifth and last round of the Qatar Superstock Championship will be held on March 13th & 14th as support race for the Superbike World Championship.