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Tribune News Network
Doha
In the second round of Qatar Superstock600 championship, the thrilling battle between Saeed al Sulaiti and Mashel al Naimi continued at Losail International Circuit as they shared victories.
The first race was stopped just after the start due to some oil in the track so the race was re-scheduled at 10 laps instead of 12 laps.
The poleman of the weekend, Sulaiti, managed to lead the race during the first half of the session. He was very strong during the start of the race and pushed to create a gap with Naimi who just behind him.
Unfortunately, Sulaiti crashed in the fifth lap at turn 16 when he lost the front but luckily he managed to rejoin the race and end in sixth position.
At the moment of Saeed's crash, Naimi took over and kept the lead until the end and won the race.
The second position in the podium was for Nasser al Malki, who finished 2.850 behind Nami. Young rider Abdullah al Qubaisi was third.
In the QSTK Trophy category, Essa al Mutawa clinched victory and was followed by Soud al Thani and Khalid al Mal.
In the second race of the day, Saeed also started the race pushing from the beginning and this time he took lead all the way until the end. This time, Sulaiti didn't have any mistake and beat Naimi by 4.877 seconds. The third place was for Nasser al Malki.
Essa al Mutawa took again the victory in the QSTK Trophy. Soud al Thani finished again second and this time the third place was for Jassim al Thani.
At the end of the day, Saeed was very happy with his result despite the crash."In Race One, I started very good. The first four laps I was leading and I noticed that Mashel and Nasser were a bit close to me, less than half a second so I decided to push more. Unfortunately, I made a mistake in the last corner, I pushed too hard and I lost the front.
"It was a stupid mistake specially as I am leading with a bit of gap but luckily, I was able to pick up the bike and continue the race. I got some important points for the championship," said Sulaiti.
Naimi, who is second in the championship, was not very happy with the set up of his bike."I am not happy with the set up of the bike but I have some consolation thta I was able to close the gap with Saeed in this round. We started on Thursday with the private test and didn't find a good set up. It feels like I am riding a 1.000 bike. It is very difficult to turn. From the FP 1 I tried to find a good set up but it was not possible, maybe because of the wind or I am not working the right way to get a better set up, being very slow in first round.
"For sure we need time to fix it. I want to thank the QMMF and Losail for having organised the private test to try the suspension but with this weather, it was not possible to have a good set up. I also want to thank Ooredoo for supporting me in each round," he said.
On his part, Nasser al Malki said,"For me this weekend was very nice. I had a lot of problems in the past with the stocked suspension but now I feel I can be back in the fight with Mashel and Saeed.
"I hope I can be better it in the next round with the Ohlins suspension that helped me a lot as I know that with this change I can improve my results. Many thanks to QMMF and Losail Circuit Sports Club for the support."
Trophies were presented by Abdulrahmam al Mannai (QMMF President) and Abdulrazak al Kuwari (QMMF General Secretary). Qatar's sport hero, Nasser Saleh al Attiyah was also present in the podium with the winners.
The third round of Qatar Superstock Championship will be held on February 16 and 17, 2018.
