DOHA: Qatar’s Mashel Al Naimi last night emerged as the fastest rider in combined free practice sessions of the second round of Qatar Superbike Championship at Losail International Circuit.
Despite strong winds engulfing the circuit bathed under artificial lights, Al Naimi clocked 2.03.948 recorded in the second practice session.
Australian rider Alex Cudlin produced the second best time of 2.04.187 that he recorded in the second practice session.
The third fastest rider was India’s Rajini Krishnan who clocked 2’04.332 (second session).
Qatar’s Nasser Al Malki finished fourth fastest with a time of 2’04.715 (first session) on his BMW bike.
Germany’s Nina Prinz was impressive with her rounds, finishing with best time of 2’05.298.
A notch behind Prinz was Qatar’s Saeed Al Sulaiti (2’06.519).
In the Qatar Supersport Championship practice, Saudi rider Abdul Aziz Bin Ladin was the fastest in his category with a time of 2.09.292 clocked in the second session.
Fahid Al Sowaidi of Qatar (2’11.145) and Ahmed Al Muyini of Saudi Arabia (2’11.426) finished behind Bin Ladin.
Also yesterday, it was announced that Pirelli, for the second consecutive year, will be the main sponsor of the last round of the eni FIM Superbike World Championship round at the Losail International Circuit in Doha, Qatar.
This round is therefore called the Pirelli Qatar Round.
The Losail International Circuit, inaugurated in 2004, is located a few kilometres away from the capital of Qatar and one of its unique strengths is that it can rely on an innovative lighting system which offers the opportunity to race at night.
The track is 5.380 km long with a 1.068 metres long finish straight. Six left turns and 10 right-handers make up this 12-metre wide track.
The track is made up of high and medium speed corners plus a super fast main straight. Although artificial grass is placed around the circuit to limit the deposition of sand from the desert, the early sessions can see sand on the asphalt.
This is due to the winds on the Qatar peninsula moving sand that is then deposited on the track, dirtying it.
At the sessions yesterday the riders are usually called to clean the track doing curves with constant radii where the front tyre tends to ‘tuck’ at some point, creating wear marks. On the rear, for the same reason, you can have a kind of “leopard spots” look.
The circuit also has never been re-asphalted so now is more worn and requires tyres, especially the front, with a good grip and able to compensate for the lost grip over the years from the asphalt.
The circuit requires a good compromise between front wheel stability during challenging braking zones plus a good level of traction at the rear to properly set the trajectories out of the fast turns.
So at the front you need a tyre capable of absorbing the high power accumulated during braking without suffering high ‘crushing’. At the rear instead we need to focus on a soft tyre to properly face the road surface and provide adequate traction.
This choice, however, is complicated by the constant presence of sand on the circuit that reduces the grip and produces micro lateral slipping (stick and slide) which can cause tearing on the tread surface.
The Pirelli solutions for the Superbike and Supersport classes:
For the event that closes the 2015 season of the eni FIM Superbike World Championship, Pirelli brings to Qatar a total of 2721 tyres that will be available to Superbike and Supersport riders, the only two classes that will be present.
In Superbike, each rider will have an option of 65 tyres, 32 front and 33 rear slicks in different solutions plus the intermediate and wet tyres. Riders who will enter the Superpole on Saturday will also have a qualifier rear super soft tyre.
THE PENINSULA
