Al Sulaiti and Al Naimi share victories at the second round of QSTK600
The second round of the Qatar Superstock 600 was held this weekend at Lusail International Circuit with the victories of Saeed Al Sulaiti and Mashel Al Naimi. Al Sulaiti won the first race and Al Naimi returned to the top of the podium after long time wining the second race.
In the first race of the second round, Saeed Al Sulaiti took the victory and crossed the checkered flag in front of the Spaniard rider Julian Simon and Abdulla Al Qubaisi.
Al Sulaiti, who was third on the grid, managed to take the lead of the race in the middle of the race and take win with a total time of 25:19.007. The Spanish wild card Julian Simon finished in second place and Abdulla al Qubaisi completed the podium.
'At the beginning, I was fourth in the first lap and I saw that Abdulla and Mashel were pulling away so I decided to tried to overtake Julian Simon. I managed to do it so in the next couple of laps I tried to catch them. In the middle of the race I lead the race and until the last five laps Abdulla was overtaking me in the straight line but I overtake him in the corner. In the last two laps , everybody struggled with the tyres and I created some gap and win the race’ said Al Sulaiti
In the second race of the day, Mashel Al Naimi, who started from the Superpole, changed the strategy and didn’t push from the start of the race , letting the other riders to stay in front. In the last three laps, Al Naimi pushed and lead the race until the checkered flag, winning the second race with a total time of 25:23.960.
‘I am very happy with the result of this weekend. In the first race, I had still a problem with the front tyre and I could finish only in fourth place. In the second race I change a little bit front fork and it works better when I am following the riders rather than leading , I cannot push alone. In the last laps, I almost crashed in corner number seven and thirteen but I was very lucky also because I did a little gap. We race this round with a very experienced and professional rider, Julian Simon, that I know very well from Moto2 and this was an extra motivation for me. Many thanks to QMMF and LCSC and to Ooredoo for their sponsor.’ said Al Naimi
As in the first race, the Spanish rider Julian Simon finished in second place and the third place was for Abdulla Al Qubaisi.
For Simon, this weekend was great as he came back racing to the track 'I am very happy to be here and race in the Qatar Superstock 600 specially as my last period of my racing career was here with the QMMF Racing Team in Moto2, so it is a special place. Also, because I am training the MotoGP rider Maverick Viñales that is the Qatar Motorsports Academy Ambassador and this is an extra motivation to race here for me. The level of the competition is very good and it is great to see a lot of riders from different nationalities taking part in this championship' stated Simon.
Saeed Al Sulaiti was leading most of the race but in the last laps he had a problem with the suspension broken that made him to slow down and finished in fourth position.
In the QSTK Trophy, the french rider Jeremy Parola took the victory in both races. The second place was for Rayad Al Emadi and the Kuwaiti rider Alexander Qabazard completed the podium in third place.
'The first race was very difficult conditions with a lot of wind but it was all for everybody but the second race was a bit better, with a very nice fight with Soud Al Thani and Rayad Al Emadi and enjoyed a lot the race. Very happy with my results today’ said Jeremy.
In the championship standings, Saeed Al Sulaiti is leading with 83 points followed by Abdulla Al Qubaisi with 77 points. The third place is for Mashel Al Naimi with 70 points. In the QSTK Trophy, Jeremy Parola is leading with 95 points.
Trophies were presented by Mr. Abdulrahman Al Mannai (QMMF President), Mr. Abdulrazak Al Kuwari (QMMF General Secretary), Mr. Khalid Al Remaihi (LCSC Vice President & General Manager) and Mr. Juan Baquero (LCSC CEO).