Doha: Five-time champion Alex Cudlin won the two races of the opening round of Qatar Superbike Championship on Saturday night at Losail International Circuit.
In very humid conditions, the Aussie managed to clinch win in both races, in a tough battle with the runner-up of last season, Mishal Al Naimi who finished second in both races.
In the first race, even Cudlin had the pole position, Al Naimi managed to lead the race for the first four laps but the Australian overtook the Qatari rider in the fifth lap, keeping the first position until the end, finishing only 0.887 ahead of Mishal.
Mishal had some problems with his racing bike in the qualifying session and he had to race with his second bike that didn’t have a perfect set up.
The third position went forNasser Al Malki, who made a great start as he was last in the grid and managed to be in fourth place already in the second lap. Al Malki kept the fourth position almost the whole race , very close to Nina Prinz who finally lost her third position and finished in fourth place.
The fifth place was for Saeed Al Sulaiti who had some problems during the practice sessions but finally managed to set up the bike and get good results .
In the new category in the Superbike, Veterans category, Irish Suzuki rider, Paul Etherton who finished in seventh place overall, emerged as a winner. British riders Martin Bexon and Mark Schulz, ended in second and third place respectively in the Veterans podium.
For Cudlin the second race was better and won it ahead of Al Naimi with a gap of 9.985. Al Naimi continued with his bike problems and finished again second in the race. The Qatari rider Saeed Al Sulaiti finished in third place.
The next round of Qatar Superbike will be on October 16 and 17 as the support race of the World Superbike Championship Qatar Round.
The Peninsula
Moreda dazzles at Losail
Doha: Abdulaziz bin Laden won both races of the Qatar Supersport Championship, while Shelina Moreda was impressive in the women’s class at Losail International Circuit on Saturday.
“I am very happy with the two wins in the opening round of the championship and even I am not very happy with my lap timings, I enjoyed a lot in the second race with a nice battle with Fahid and I hope to improve my time in the coming rounds,” said Abdulaziz after the races. Fahid Al Sowaidi had a problem with his tyres but he was happy to finish second.
Ahmed Al Muyini, also from Saudi Arabia in both races, finished third in both the races.
Al Muyini is riding in this category for first time as he was riding in the superbike category in the last seasons.
“This is the first time I participate in the 600cc and I didn’t had too much practice with this bike but I am very happy with this result and to be in the podium in both races. Many thanks to the Saudi Motorsport Federation for supporting me and I hope to improve more in the next races,” Al Muyini said.
In the Supersport Chmpionship, there were some women taking part in the championship and their performance was great.
The American rider Moreda had great results in both races, finishing in 5th and 6th position to fnish ahead of Serbian rider Manca Katrasnik.
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