Tribune News Network
Doha
Young riding sensation Marton Belleli secured the 2024 FIM MiniGP Qatar Championship title despite finishing fifth in both races in the fifth and final round at the Lusail International Circuit.
Heading into the final round with a slender lead over his closest rival Jake Franklin, Belleli had to avoid a major upset in the last two races, but finishing within the top five on both occasions made sure he remained on top with a total of 147 points.
Franklin, after finishing third in Race 1 and fourth in Race 2, came second with 144 points. Riley Robinson secured third place in the standings with 121 points.
Franklin’s second-place finish also secured his place in the starting line-up of the FIM Mini GP World Final which will be held at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia from November 10-14 during the Valencia MotoGP weekend. He will be joined by one other MiniGP Qatar Championship rider after Belleli’s age made him ineligible for this year’s World Final which will feature riders from 22 countries in the 160cc class.
On Saturday, at the 1.124-kilometer Lusail track, Nolann Macary secured victories in both races in the final round. His back-to-back wins took his points tally to 100, securing him the sixth place in the championship standings.
In Race 1, Macary completed the 15-lap race in 15:34.366, while setting the fastest lap time of the event - 1:01.738. Makar Novichkov followed in second place, finishing 21.403 seconds behind the winner, while Franklin came third. Petr Mayorov finished in fourth place, while Belleli rounded up the top five.
The second race was another thriller, but again, Macary was in dominant form. Macary clocked an even faster best lap time of 1:01.322 and finished the race in 15:28.662. Novichkov was second again, trailing by 22.532 seconds, while Mayorov and Franklin came third and fourth, respectively. Belleli finished fifth again, adding 11 more points to his account to secure the title glory.
