Omani participants Ammar Bulushi and Zakariya Al Ofi yesterday impressed with another fine round of performances to maintain lead of their respective groups after the second round of the 2020 Qatar Online Racing Championship (QORC).
Exhibiting admirable skill handling their rally cars on the gravel terrain in Spain, Ammar Abd Zakariya won five stages each in the hugely popular online series that is receiving wide attention from Qatari and regional participants.
Ammar with a tally of 80 points heads the pack of participants in Group B. Ammar is 11 points ahead over Qatar’s Adel Abdulla. Ammar lost significant time in two stages but was dominant in the rest of the stages to stay top of Group B.
Qatar’s Abdulla, who was unbeaten in three-round qualifying stage last week, won just one stage yesterday. The Qatari off-road ace remained in overall second position with 69 points, two points ahead of Ahmed El Kholy.
In Group A, Zakariya held an eight-point lead over Khalid Al Maraghi. The Omani racer lost the first two stages but regrouped spectacularly to win the next five with ease. In third position was Mansour Dbeissy with 66 points.
After three semi-final rallies, top three from each group will qualify for the final which will take place on Saturday. The WRC8 series is the third online event organised by the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) following highly successful Touring Car Championship and the MotoGP series. The online competitions have gained in popularity after it was held for cars and bikes in the last two months.
In total 28 competitors have registered for the championship with more still keen to get registered. QMMF said the winner of the two-week competition will receive QR15,000 in prize money. The runner-up will take home QR13,000, while thirdplaced competitor will get QR10,000.
ROUND 2 RESULTS
GROUP A: 1. Zakariya Al Ofi (Oman) 37:43.534 secs; 2. Khalid Al Maraghi +2.726; 3. Mansour Dbeissy +49.469; 4. Ahmed Al Kuwari +2:27.681; 5. Patrick Roux +3:55.482; 6. Misfer Al Hajri +4:24.521.
GROUP B: 1. Ammar Bulushi (Oman) 37:33.266 secs; 2. Ahmed El Kholay +9.899; 3. Adel Abdulla +10.866; 4. Mishari Al Thefiri (Kuwait) +24.750; 5. Hamad Al Sulaiti +2:41.696; 6. Nasser Al Kuwari +3:28.317
OVERALL STANDINGS
GROUP A: 1. Zakariya Al Ofi (Oman) 80 points; 2. Khalid Al Maraghi 72; 3. Mansour Dbeissy 66; 4. Ahmed Al Kuwari 62; 5. Patrick Roux 60; 6. Misfer Al Hajri 58
GROUP B: 1. Ammar Bulushi (Oman) 80 points; 2. Adel Abdulla 69; 3. Ahmed El Kholy 67; 4. Mishari Al Thefiri (Kuwait) 64; 5. Hamad Al Sulaiti 60; 6. Nasser Al Kuwari 58
