DOHA: A record entry of riders and drivers will vie for top honours in the first rounds of Qatar SuperBike and Qatar Challenge at Losail International Circuit today and tomorrow.
According to the provisional entry list, a total of 44 riders from 16 different countries are registered to take part in the first round of Qatar SuperBike Championship.
Defending champion Alex Cudlin will try to win the title for fourth time in a row with a Kawasaki ZX10R but the Australian will have his task cut out as Qatari rider Nasser Al Malki will be aiming to better his second-place finish last season.
German rider Nina Prinz, also with a Kawasaki ZX10R, who finished third in the standings last season, hopes to ‘push very hard and try to beat team-mate Cudlin’.
The Losail Asian Road Racing Series (LARRS) will ride together with the Qatar SuperBike like previous years. In the LARRS, Nikolett Kovacs from Hungary and Waled Benterki from Algeria will participate again this season.
There will be two new female riders taking part in the LARRS - Manca Katrasnik from Serbia and Badal Hanneh from Lebanon. The defending champion in LARSS series, India’s Rajini Krishnan has moved to the QSBK with a Suzuki ZX10R.
Regarding the Qatar Challenge, 13 drivers have registered until now.
Runners-up of the last season, Australian driver Talal Wehbe with a Lotus Exige and the third classified Pavel Nedobity from Czech Republic will once again take part in this championship.
Today fans at Losail Circuit can see free and qualifying practices for bikes and cars.
Tomorrow there will be an official photo shoot with all the riders and drivers at 4:00pm at the Start/Finish Line, QMMF said in a statement. The bike races will be at 7:20pm and at 9:50. The car race is scheduled at 8:30pm.
Grandstand is open to the public.
Together with the launch of Qatar Superbike and Qatar Challenge, Losail Circuit will also open its gates for young riders at the Children’s Academy.
The Academy is open from 1:00pm to 5:00pm and the registration is at 1:00pm in the Children Academy. There will be different kind of bikes for the children to check different abilities: Suzuki 75cc, Suzuki 125cc and Polini bikes.
THE PENINSULA
