Qatar’s Fadhel al-Khater and Palestinian driver Omran Karama raced to a double in the second round of Losail 600 Cup and the opening round of a new car championship, Qatar Touring Car Championship (QTCC), respectively, on Saturday.
In the first race, al-Khater, who got the pole position in the qualifying, led throughout the race with compatriot Ali al-Shamari the only rider able to get close to the former.
Al Shamari, however, had a gear problem in the last lap and had to retire from the race, and al-Khater took the victory. With al-Shamari out of the race, Abdullah al-Qubaisi finished second.
“It was a good race and there was a good chance for a win today because some riders didn’t ride today. The weather was too hot but I am very happy with my victory as it is very good for the championship,” al-Khater said.
The third position in the podium was for British rider Ian Maund.
Al-Khater took the victory in the second race too, while Sheikh Soud al-Thani finished second. Sheikh Soud had crashed in qualifying and didn’t have time to fix his bike in time for the first race.
“The second race was much better than the first one, with the weather improvement and we enjoyed a lot. I had time to fix my bike for the second race after my crash in the qualifying and I am very happy with my second position and this is very good for the championship points,” Sheikh Soud said.
Al-Qubaisi found his way to the podium yet again with a third place finish.
Al-Khater leads the championship with 50 points, followed by al-Qubaisi with 47 and Sheikh Soud with 42 points.
In the new Qatar Touring Car Championship, Omran Karama, who is racing under Qatar’s racing licence, won both the races.
In the first race, Qatar’s Abdulla al-Khulaifi took the lead within the first five laps, but lost the advantage to the Palestinian rider in the sixth.
Karama did not relinquish his lead right till the checkered flag.
For al-Khulaifi, this was the first time that he had participated in a car championship at the circuit and was very happy to finish the race in second place. Italian driver Peter de Vido finished in third place.
The second race was more exciting as the starting grid was in reverse order of the finishing order of Race 1, which meant that Karama started from the back of the grid.
By the second lap, the Palestinian had risen up to third place, and eventually moved up front by the third.
Yet again, Karama did not relinquish his lead once he got ahead.
“I am very excited, two races and two wins in one day; the first podium for me… it is amazing. The reverse grid was great, we had a lot of fun and very nice battle with the rest of the drivers. The temperature was cooling down, so we were more relaxed and many thanks to Losail Circuit Sports Club for this championship. I am looking forward to the next round,” Karama said.
De Vido finished second in the second race, while Australian driver Adam Spence completed the podium.
In the standings, Karama has 22 points, followed by De Vido with 17 and al-Hajri with 15 points.
Action in these two racing series resumes on May 7.