Tags
|
While the first two races of the Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs have had their challenges for the Qatar Al-Anabi Racing Top Fuel team, the two-time NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel World Champions owned by His Excellency, Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad al-Thani, both Al-Anabi teams made magnificent qualifying efforts at the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals, the third of six races that comprise the Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs and the 21st of 24 events making up the United States’ 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season. |
Silver Al-Anabi driver Shawn Langdon entered the Midwest Nationals tied with Doug Kalitta for first place in the NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel point standings.
Langdon was quickest in the first round of qualifying which allowed him to be in the final pair of cars during the Friday-night session.
After watching six cars run quicker than his Friday afternoon pass, Langdon was seventh before he ran, but he blistered the Gateway Motorsports Park track with a 3.761-second pass at 326.40 mph and is the No 1 qualifier with two qualifying rounds remaining.
Should Langdon remain No. 1, it would be his sixth No. 1 qualifier of the season and the 12th of his career. After making the quickest runs in both qualifying sessions, Langdon earned three qualifying bonus points in each session and earned the maximum of six points. He now enjoys a six-point lead in the NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel point standings.
“That 3.76 (second pass) is pretty close to what we were trying to run,” Langdon said. “Right now, we are trying to focus on smart racing. The six qualifying bonus points we earned are crucial right now. We were trying to make two consistent runs and get the maximum bonus points we could get, and we did that.
“The Al-Anabi car had the front end in the air and carried it quite a ways; that’s generally a good indication that the car launched hard and was going to make an excellent run.”
The news was almost as good on the gold side of the Al-Anabi pit. After failing to qualify for the race in Texas last weekend, second-year driver Khalid al-Balooshi needed a strong qualifying effort to get the team back on track for a return to the form that earned the No 5 seed in the Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs.
The team wasted no time in that process making a smooth yet conservative run in the first session, and al-Balooshi was eighth quickest. In the evening session, al-Balooshi made a marvelous 3.794-second pass at 322.81 mph and is fourth after two of the four qualifying rounds.
There are no comments.
SPORT Saying goodbye is never easy, especially when you are saying farewell to those that have left a positive impression. That was the case earlier this month when Canada hosted Mexico in a friendly at BC Place stadium in Vancouver.
TECHNOLOGY Some 60mn primary-school-age children have no access to formal education
CULTURE Lekhwiya’s El Arabi scores the equaliser after Tresor is sent off; Tabata, al-Harazi score for QSL champions
ARABIA The Yemeni Minister of Tourism, Dr Mohamed Abdul Majid Qubati, yesterday expressed hope that the 48-hour ceasefire in Yemen declared by the Command of Coalition Forces on Saturday will be maintained in order to lift the siege imposed on Taz City and ease the entry of humanitarian aid to the besieged
ARABIA Some 200 teachers from schools across the country attended Qatar Museum’s (QM) first ever Teachers Council at the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) yesterday.
ARABIA The Supreme Judiciary Council (SJC) of Qatar and the Indonesian Supreme Court (SCI) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on judicial co-operation, it was announced yesterday.
ECONOMY Sri Lanka is keen on importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar as part of government policy to shift to clean energy, Minister of City Planning and Water Supply Rauff Hakeem has said.
