Al Naimi takes the Superpole and win in QSTK
Al Khelaifi continues to dominate in Qatar Touring Car Championship
Qatar’s rider Mishal Al Naimi dominated today’s sessions and he took the Superpole of the fourth round of the Qatar Superstock 600 Championship in the last lap.
With a lap time of 2:04.343 Al Naimi will start in front of the grid tomorrow and will try to extend the gap ahead of Saeed Al Sulaiti.
Al Sulaiti, who is not fit 100% due to his hand injured, will start from the second place on the grid as he did a laptime of 2:04.600 in the Superpole.
The young rider Abdullah Al Qubaisi did a great time in the Superpole and he will start in third position in the grid.
Later in the evening, the second race of the QSTK Round 3 that was postponed during MotoGP due to the weather conditions took place. Just in the first corner of the first lap, there was touch between Ali Al Naimi and Soud Al Thani and both riders crashed without major injuries but the race was stopped to clean the track.
As soon as the race was re-started, Saeed Al Sulaiti, who was on pole position for this race, took the lead from the start until the end. Mishal Al Naimi was riding behind him so close during the whole race but in the last corner of the last lap, Al Naimi managed to overtake Al Sulaiti and took the victory.
Mishal was very happy and enjoyed a lot riding today ‘I am very happy today, I have been fast during all the sessions and I feel good physically but the bike still needs a good set up. I tried to push from the beginning but Saeed was very fast. I didn’t have a good start and I stayed in the back to keep the tyre in good conditions and in the last corner of the last lap I felt I am good in the entry, so I overtake him and won the race. Congratulations to Saeed and Nasser for their podiums and many thanks to QMMF, Losail Circuit Sports Club and to Ooredoo for their support’ said Al Naimi.
Saed Al Sulaiti was a bit disappointed not to win after leading the whole race until the last corner ‘I had a very good start, able to lead the race from the beginning until the last corner of the last lap. While I was entering the corner, I saw Mishal’s tyre and at that moment I was able to enter but there was a risk that both of us crash so I let him pass and try to pass him from inside again but unfortunately it was not a good idea and finished second by only 0.1. Happy with the rhythm we had today with all the sessions. I was not in the best shape; my hand is hurting me a lot but I managed the pain and pushed to 100%. Congratulations to Mishal and Nasser for the podium’ Al Sulaiti
The third in the podium was Nasser Al Malki and Abdullah Al Qubaisi finished in fourth position.
‘I am very happy today as I feel better but still I need some improvement with the bike as I am stucked with the same lap timing. I have problems with the suspension, I don’t feel comfortable. At the beginning, I started to be close to Saeed and Mishal but they are faster in the second part of the track and they increased the gap. I hope tomorrow to be again in the fight for the win’ said Al Malki
Tomorrow, QSTK Round 4 races will be at 11:30 and at 14:30.
Regarding the third round of the Qatar Touring Car Championship, the leader in the standings, Abdulla Al Khelaifi continues to dominate the timings and was the fastest driver with a lap time of 2:26.620 in the Free Practice of today.
Al Khelaifi was very happy with his result and to be back to the action ‘Great to be back racing! Qualifying went well for me as I was able to do one clean lap from the beginning. I decided to pit early as I thought pushing the car in this hot weather is a bad idea. Judging from the results today, I think tomorrow’s race will be interesting as four drivers will battle for first’ said Abdulla.
The second fastest driver was Mahmoud Al Khalaf, who did a lap time of 2:26.792 ‘It was a nice surprise to finish second as my car’s setup was not perfect yet. I kept pushing till the end and my lap times kept improving. Hope I can maintain my pace in the race tomorrow to finish first!
Omran Karama did the third best time and Mansour Al Hajri finished in fourth place as he had suspension issues but hopefully he can fix them and tomorrow’s race will be more challenging.
QTCC races are tomorrow Saturday at 13:00 and at 16:00
There is free entrance for all the fans at the grandstand and also at the Paddock.
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