Doha: The first season of the Superbike European Championship came to an end in Valencia on Sunday.
After seven rounds and eleven races, QMMF Racing closed out a year in which they have done an excellent job and in which both Mashel Al Naimi and Saeed Al Sulaiti have made significant progress.
The final race of the season saw Mashel, who was very strong in practice, suffer problems with his forearms that did not allow him to compete at his desired level.
Previously this season, Al Naimi had got the most out of his Kawasaki bike and shown that he and his team were capable of fighting for victories.
Al Sulaiti had a steady race towards the front of the field, battling for fifth position but eventually placing sixth.
The result is a positive one for the Qatari, who previosly competed in the FIM CEV Moto2 category and has made a good adaption to 1000cc bikes this season –becoming a regular in the Top 10.
This season QMMF Racing have achieved podium finishes in the Superbike class and wins in the privateer category.
The two riders have been consistently in the upper-half of the standings on the race day.
“I have no words to describe how happy I am,” said the Qatari rider.
“I started in 14th but I was able to move up the order to end up fighting for fifth place,” he said.
“I eventually finished in sixth place, but it is a very good result that rewards the excellent work the team have done.
“They have made some changes to the bike and today, from the warm-up, I felt much more comfortable on the bike. This allowed me to go out and race with confidence. This season has been very good. We have improved step-by-step, and at every race we have understood things better -allowing us to achieve better results,” he added.
“It’s been amazing to experience this steady progression with the team, which is the result of hard work from everyone involved. I want to thank the president for his words of encouragement after each race, the federation for their support and each of my mechanics for the brilliant work they have done”.
Al Naimi was also overall satisfied with his performance in the season.
“Once again I had problems with my arms, which prevented me from riding at the level I know I can. From the sixth lap onwards I gradually lost sensitivity and I finished the race with much lower performance that I am capable of achieving. In any case, I am happy with the work we’ve done this year,” he said.
“We have managed to be at a good level, we have got on the podium and I am sure that, if it were not for my arm problems, we would have taken much better positions during the season.”
Al Naimi thanked the QMMF for its support.
“I want to thank the team, who have worked very effectively all year and helped me a lot with my arm problems and, of course, I want to thank QMMF for the opportunity. I hope that next year we can continue working and fight for even better positions than this season.”
THE PENINSULA
