Ghanim Al Maadheed and Abdulla Al Khelaifi winners of the Qatar Touring Car Championship
Ghanim Al Maadeed was crowned new champion of the Qatar Touring Car Championship in the 2K Class yesterday at the Lusail International Circuit during the last round of the season.
Al Maadheed, who was driving a Lotus Elise in the championship, has been on the podium 9 out of the 10 races as he missed one race due to a mechanical problem with his engine.
In the first race, Al Maadheed finished in front of Ibrahim Al Abdulghani who was second and Hamad al Asam who finished in third place. In the second race, the victory was again for Al Maadeed but this time, Abdulla Abdulaziz came in second place and Nasser Al Ahbabi completed the podium.
With a total of 140 points, Al Maadheed is the new champion in the 2K Class, in front of Ibrahim Al Abdulghani who finished second in the standings with 111 and Nasser Al Ahbabi third with 83 points.
‘I am very happy for this championship title. Last season I finished second overall and this year I took the championship title, so I couldn’t ask for more. Overall, it was almost a perfect season as we had an issue with the engine in the round 2 but thanks to all my team, we managed to fix it and here we are, on the top. The competition has been very tough and strong due to the large number of competitors but this is very good for the championship as it is more challenging for all the participants.’ said Al Maadheed.
The second classified in the championship, Al Abdulghani overall was happy with his result ‘Overall the championship seemed that it was longer than 5 rounds. We struggled to keep consistence throughout the series. I started the championship with really fast pace but in the third round I slow down as I had an issue with my car so I had to borrow one car for the fourth round. It seems like me all the other competitors had issues so I am kind of content with my results, maybe I could have done more to get better but so far, I am happy overall. Hopefully I can compete for first place overall in the next season and congratulations to Ghanim and Nasser for first and third place’ stated Al Abdulghani.
In the QTCC M240 Class, the championship title was clinched by Abdulla Al Khelaifi, the three times QTCC defendant champion. Al Khelaifi, who started the season competing in the 2K class but switched to the M240 class after the second round, finished the M240 championship on top with 100 points.
In the first race of M240, the victory was for Nasser Saadon Al Kuwari followed by Abdulla Al Khelaifi and Hamad Al Sulaiti. In the second race, with the reverse grid, Saadon Al Kuwari got the victory. Abdulla Al Khelaifi finished in second place again and Nasser Saadon Al Kuwari finished third.
The M240 championship winner, Al Khelaifi, was very happy with his victory ‘Very happy to win QTCC the fourth consecutive time. Hamad was very strong and I couldn't put two cars between us first race so coming to second race I almost lost all believe in winning the championship since the gap was more than 6 points and to win I had to finish 1st and Hamad had to finish 5th. It seemed like a long shot but it was the last race of the season and I had to give it all’ said Al Khelaifi
‘As I said before coming into this round, a miracle had to happen to put me a on top of the overall ranking again, and that’s what happened as Hamad had an accident in the first lap of second race. So with one DNF for both of us this season, points were much closer and I won the championship just barely’ he added.
Hamad Al Sulaiti finished second in the championship standings, with 92 points. Al Sulaiti was very happy with his first season in this championship ‘I had a good season with a new experience with the M240 class and happy with my results in second place overall. In the first race I finished third but due to a car accident I couldn’t finish the second race and I lost all my chances to win the championship. Hopefully next season I can be more prepared and fight for the title ‘said Al Sulaiti.
Only one point behind Hamad Al Sulaiti, Nasser Saadon Al Kuwari finished third in the championship, with 91 points.
Championship trophies were presented by Mr. Abdulrahman Al Mannai (QMMF President) and Mr. Khalid Al Remaihi (LCSC Vice President and General Manager)