Saeed Al Sulaiti receives the winner’s trophy from Abdulrazak Al Kuwari, Secretary General of QMMF, at Losail International Circuit. BELOW: Al Sulaiti is seen in action while racing against Mashel Al Naimi and Nasser Al Malki.
DOHA: Popular Qatari rider Saeed Al Sulaiti yesterday defended his Qatar Superstock 600 title by winning Race 1 of the sixth and final round of the championship.
With riders battling for honours under lights at Losail International Circuit, Al Sulaiti edged out arch-rival and pole winner Mashel Al Naimi after a thrilling battle in Race 1.
Al Naimi, struggling with health issues, remained in the lead for the first seven laps but Al Sulaiti eventually overtook the former Moto2 rider and sealed his win in Race 1.
Young Abdullah Al Qubaisi finished second while seasoned rider Nasser Al Malki grabbed the third place, a notch above Al Naimi who clearly struggled for lack of fitness .
With the championship title already secured, Al Sulaiti focussed more on completing Race 2 which was skipped by an unfit Al Naimi.
Al Qubaisi finished ahead of title winner Al Sulaiti and topped Race 2 while Hungarian rider Balint Kovacs completed the podium.
Al Sulaiti ended up with 211 points, followed by Al Naimi (180 points), Al Malki (165), Al Qubaisi (153), Fahad Al Sowaidi (113) and Kovacs (98).
“There are no words to describe my feelings, winning the championship again,” a beaming Al Sulaiti said.
“It has been a very tough season and my performances and results have been better than last year. I won more races this year than last year.
“When I crashed in round 2 and 4, I thought winning the championship would be very difficult. There was a lot of pressure when I reached the final round only a point behind Mishal,” he added.
“But at the end of the day, me and my team remained focused and we took the victory,” Al Sulaiti said.
“I want to thank everyone who has stood with me this season. I salute my team and my friends for giving me the motivation to do well. My team worked really good on the set up,” Al Sulaiti said.
Al Sulaiti, who has raced extensively in Spain also besides featuring in races across France and other European countries, praised the performance of 18-year-old Al Qubaisi.
“I am really happy with the overall performance of Abdullah this season. He worked a lot and now he gets all the good results that he deserves,” Al Sulaiti said.
“Winning Race 2 and recording his top lap time by 2:04.9 in the Superpole is a great feat. For us, it took us years to do that and this is amazing what he has done. He proved he is really strong and for next year I think we may have a new challenger fighting for the championship,” Al Sulaiti said.
Al Sulaiti also took the opportunity to thank QMMF and LCSC for their ‘whole-hearted support’. “I want to thank Mr Abdulrahman Al Mannai, the President of QMMF, and Losail Circuit Sports Club’s Mr Khalid Al Remaihi for setting up this great championship. Their support during the season has been wonderful.
“I big ‘thank you’ to Ooredoo for sponsoring me and believing in me. Nothing would be possible without their sponsorship,” Al Sulaiti said.
Al Malki, who finished third in Race 2, wasn’t a pleased rider at the end of the proceedings at LIC.
Al Malki pushed hard from the beginning of the race and was in the lead until the ninth lap but suffered due to mechanical problems with the bike’s throttle as he lost pace on fellow riders and finished fourth.
“I am not happy at all because I worked hard all the season to have a good feeling with the bike. But I managed to have the good feeling only in the last round,” Al Malki said. “In the last race, I was doing my way and led almost all the race, until the ninth lap but I had a mechanical problems with my throttle and it was dangerous to push so I slowed down and finished fourth. I hope I can come back stronger for the next season and be better prepared than this year. I take this opportunity to say congratulations to Saeed and Mishal for an amazing season,” Al Malki said.
Al Naimi said things could have been different had he not fallen sick going into the last round.
“In general, I had a very good season. Until the last round, I had the chance to win the championship as I was one point ahead of Saeed but in the last round I fell very sick from mid-week,” Al Naimi said.
“In Race 1 of the final round, I felt very dizzy and I was losing concentration. So I said to myself that if I am not able to win the first race, it will be very difficult to do it in the second race. 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. Also, I did not want to take any risk as far as I was concerned and for the rest of the riders,” Al Naimi said.
“I want to thank the QMMF and Losail Circuit Sports Club for this great championship. A big ‘thank you’ to Ooredoo for sponsoring me and for the support they gave me all this time. I hope to come back next season stronger and to fight for the title,” Al Naimi said.
Hungarian rider Kovacs said: “This was a great season for me. I am very happy with my performance as it was my first time. I found the perfect championship to train in the winter season since I will now feature in the German Championship with Suzuki in mid-April.”
He added: “ We decided to come and race here. With another podium has been great for me and overall, I take with me a very positive experience. I hope to come back next season.”
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