Tribune News Network
Doha
Amidst thrilling competition and breath-taking struggles until the last moments, the second round of the 2024 Arabian Drag Racing League concluded with the gracious sponsorship of His Excellency Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Thani, Chairman of Qatar Racing Club. This round witnessed an increase in the number of participants, reaching over 110 racers, an increase of 15 racers compared to the opening round. This prompted the organizing committee to begin the qualifying competitions last Wednesday, with champions from this sport present in Qatar and all Gulf Arab countries. Interestingly, none of the champions from the previous round could secure their second title in this round across all nine categories. This raised the level of challenge and competition for the championship.
The strongest category of this year, the Index 4.0, the runner-up of the opening round, Jaber Al Maghribi, managed to clinch the title in this round. He defeated Msalam Al Qalaf in the final showdown, while Basil Abbas secured the third position, the same position he achieved in the previous round. Al Maghribi also claimed another victory by winning the Super Street category, defeating Hussain Akbar in the final rematch of the previous round, where Akbar emerged victorious.
The third podium place went to Badr Al Sharshani, who achieved a double presence on the podium by winning the Index 4.80 category, surpassing Nawaf Al Khaledi in the final race, while Adel Ali Al Luaim secured the third spot on the podium.
Moving on to the Index 4.50 category, the podium for this round featured three completely new faces. Ali Hussain Al Qalaf emerged as the champion, followed by Hussain Ashkanani in second place and Abdulaziz Saleh in third.
The competitions in the Index 8.50 and Index 9.0 categories witnessed a return to the quarter-mile distance after it was reduced in the previous round for safety reasons. The final showdown of the first category saw the runner-up of the previous round, Hussain Ashkanani, competing against the third-place finisher, Raed Al Bakr.
Ashkanani secured the title, leaving the second position to Al Bakr, while Khaled Abdul Karim Hamli claimed the third position. In the second category, 9.0, Mohammed Jawad reached the final for the second consecutive time, and after missing the title in the previous round, he succeeded in winning it this time by defeating Faisal Khalifa Ahmed. The third position went to racer Abdullah Ali Abdullah.
Bin Aeedan, Al Balushi, and Aldosari excel on two wheels
Badr bin Eidan managed to secure the title of the second round in the strongest categories of motorcycle racing, the Super Street Bike category, defeating the leader of the qualifying trials, Mshari Al Turki.
The victory was due to an issue that prevented the latter from participating in the final race, while Yaqoub Al Ali achieved his first podium in the championship by finishing in third place.
Bin Eidan returned once again to the podium, but this time in third place in the Street Bike category, won by the runner-up of the previous round, Musa Al Balushi. Saad Turki settled for the second position in this round.
In the Index 8.5 category, its final brought together Khalid Al Dosari and Fadi Abu Jamous, both absent from the previous round’s competitions. In the end, Al Dosari claimed the title, leaving Abu Jamous in second place, while Fahad Mohammed Haji secured the third position.
In the closing of the competitions, Khalifa Al Khayarin, the director of the organizers at Qatar Racing Club, crowned the top three winners in each category amid a splendid celebration, thus concluding the events of the second round of ADRL and starting preparations immediately for the third round scheduled for the coming Thursday and Friday, the 25th and 26th of January.
