Saeed Al Sulaiti takes double win at the opening round of QSTK600

Qatar’s Saeed Al Sulaiti had a great performance at the opening round of the Qatar Supersock 600 winning both races of the weekend.rnIn the first race, Saeed Al Sulaiti, who got the Superpole yesterday, managed to take the lead during the first two laps when Mishal Al Naimi passed him. Al Naimi only lead the race during one lap, as Al Sulaiti overtook him and continue leading until the checkered flag.Al Naimi was not feeling good during the whole weekend and he managed to keep the second place only for two laps, when Nasser Al Malki passed him. At the end of the first race, Al Malki finished second and Al Naimi third.‘I led the first two laps but then Mishal overtake me at the straight line. I tried to follow him aggressively until I almost crashed so I took it easy and keep my rhythm. I want to say I hope Mishal can feel better in the second race because is sad to see him weak’ Saeed said after the first race.Al Naimi was very weak during the race, so he is happy to finish in the podium in his condition ‘The bike is very good but I don’t feel good since yesterday that I went to hospital. Today I have no fever but feel weak and difficult to breath. I managed to overtake Saeed in the third lap but after 5 laps I felt very bad, with no energy and it was difficult to continue. My heart rate was very hard and I had to keep calm and finish the race. Hope I can feel better for the second race.’ said MishalIn the QSTK Trophy, it was an intense battle between Essa Al Mutawa, Soud Al Thani and the Kuwaiti rider Mohammad Al Zaidan for the first position in their categories. Just to laps to go, Essa Al Mutawa had a crash and Soud Al Thani took the victory in his class.‘Very nice race, at the beginning I struggled a bit with the start but then I managed to overtake some slow riders and I found out that Essa Al Mutawa was leading our category and he made 3-4 seconds gaps but after 4 laps I managed to catch him and overtook him, stay ahead for 3 laps and in the penultimate lap, we made contacted and exit to the gravel but fortunately I didn’t fell down and I was able to come inside, continue the race and very happy to finish first’ said Soud Al Thani.The Kuwait rider Mohammad Al Zaidan finished second in the podium and French rider Michel Delarace came third on the podium of QSTK Trophy.‘It was a good race, awesome battle between the leaders of the QSTK Trophy category. In the first part of the race I was leading in my category but Essa Al Mutawa and Soud Al Thani passed me and they fight for the firstplace but Essa crashed and I stayed in second place. Good weather, perfect bike and great grip, no problem so very happy’ Al Zaidan stated after the race.‘Honestly, I didn’t expect to be on the podium because my start was normal, I tried to catch the people in front of me but it was not possible, they were so fast, so I said to myself just continue, never look back and gave the best in every lap and happy to be on the podium. For my second day in this track this result is fantastic, the staff, riders, everybody is great and I am very happy to take part in this championship’ Delarace said after the end of the race 1.In the second race, Al Sulaiti pushed from the beginning of the race and crossed again the checkered flag in first position.‘I am really happy to make the double win, the target for this weekend. The start was perfect, I tried in the first laps to keep the rhythm and try to make the gap, but it was not easy but after 5 laps I noticed that I was increasing my gap and by the middle of the race I got a quite good gap and win the race’ ‘I am very happy for the win of Abdullah, finally the hard work and training with him become a reality and see him with me on the podium was extra gift for me. I want to thank everyone for this round, it was a good opening round for the season and I can’t wait to see what is happening in round 2. Thanks to Ooredoo , Lekhwiya, QMMF and LCSC’ ended Al Sulaiti.Al Naimi changed the strategy in the second race and tried not to push so hard from the beginning as he felt too much tired ‘ I stayed as much closed to Saeed as I could but at lap 5 I started to feel week again and difficult to breath. I looked back and I saw Nasser and Abdullah and I opened the door for them as fourth position was good. I relaxed a bit but when there were two laps to go, I pushed again to my limits and I managed to pass Abdullah and Nasser’ said Al Naimi.Abdullah Al Qubaisi finished in third position on the podium.For the QSTK Trophy, Soud Al Thani got again the win on his category ‘ I am very happy with another win . I was unlucky at the start, I had to exit from the pitlane as my tyre pressure was wrong, but with my laptime and good rhythm I managed to get a good result.’ Soud Al Thani said.Essa Al Mutawa finished second and Mohammad Al Zaidan ended in third place in QSTK Trophy.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 second round of Qatar Superstock Championship will be held on 2nd and 3rd February 2018.