Al Khelaifi takes the two victories on the second round of QTCC

Defending Qatar Touring Car Championship and leader of the season, Qatar’s Abdullah Al Khelaifi won both races of the second round of QTCC this weeknd at Lusail International Circuit.In the first race, Al Khelaifi, took the lead starting from pole position and crossed the checkered flag in front of Saadon Al Kuwari by 10.712 seconds.rn‘The start of the race was really good. I was expecting that Adham will pass me on the straight line but he had not so good start, so I managed to take him from the first corner and from there start to build a gap. Saadon managed to pass Adham but by then I had already 3 seconds gap and I tried to increase the gap’ said AlrnKhelaifi.‘Because of the hot weather I had to back off a little bit to cool down the tyres and I did it by looking to Saadon, so when he put pressure I put pressure, and when he cooled down I also cooled down with them so I keep the same gap’ added Al Khelaifi.Saadon Al Kuwari, who started in fourth position in the grid, overtook Adham El Dib, second on the grid, and kept this place throughout all the race.‘The race was very good. The problem for me was that yesterday during the qualifying I did the fast lap and it was cancelled so I started in fourth in the grid. Abdullah was very fast today and I couldn’t catch him. Also in the first corner, I had a touch with Adham and had some problems with the steering’ stated Saadon.‘At the end, second in the podium is very good, the competition was beautiful and I like to compete with all of them, all drivers did it very well and I hope more drivers will join us in future races’ ended Saadon.The third place on the podium was from Adham Eldib, from Egypt. ‘All went really good. I had a bad start and I think that made me lost the second place. I was trying to keep it but Saadon with his experience he managed to passed me and for 10 laps, me and Mahmoud Al Khalaf were fighting for the third position’ said El Dib.Mahmoud Al Khalaf, with some suspension problems finish in fourth place. Hamad al Asam and Mansoor Al Khelaifi ended the race in 5th and 6th place respectively.In the second race, with the reverse grid, it took only two laps for Al Khelaifi to take the lead and grab another victory. Saadon Al Kuwari finished second again but this time Mahmoud Al Khalaf ended on the podium.‘Second race was more exciting, I had more fun in the firsts three laps battling with my colleagues. I was planning to stay behind Adham as he will have a better start but he had a problem with his gear. From there, I started to overtake one by one, from there it wasn’t that hard. Most of the competitors had some technical issues, set up issues, so I managed to control the race, cool down to safe the tyres and the engine for the next round’ said Al Khelaifi.‘I was almost leading and we were three cars in the first corner whether I hit Mansour and crash or I speed down so I came back last and I started fighting again to reach the front. It was a great battle with Mahmoud in the last 3-4 laps.’ said Saadon Al Kuwari.Adham El Dib had a problem in the first half of the first race, he lost the fourth gear in the first half of the first lap and tried to keep the pace with the third and fifth gear but it was very difficult. ‘I just slowed down, let everybody pass and try to finish the race and get at least 1 point’ said Eldib.Trophies were presented by Mr. Abdulrahmam Al Mannai (QMMF President), Mr. Abdulrazak Al Kuwari (QMMF General Secretary) and Mr. Sultan Al Murraiki (QMMF Executive Director) The next round of Qatar Touring Car Championship will be held on 2nd and 3rd February 2018.