Saeed Al Sulaiti poses for a picture with 17-year-old Abdullah Al Qubaisi, the youngest rider in the championship.
Mishal Al Naimi will seek to consolidate his position at the top in the second round of the Qatar Superstock 600 at Losail International Circuit this weekend.
Mishal had the best of the starts in the opening round winning both the races to pocket 50 points, to take an early grip over proceedings.
The opening round of the Qatar Superstock 600 saw an exciting and thrilling battle between Mishal, Saeed Al Sulaiti and Nasser Al Malki.
The tussle for supremacy between the riders is accepted to continue on February 3 and 4.
Al Naimi is keen to build up on the early lead and has been training hard this weekat Losail International Circuit in order to be ready for the second round.
"I am feeling better every time with my bike and I have more confidence with the front. I have good speed to make a good lap time and in the last track day I am faster than in the first round, so I think I can do it better for the next round. I have to be ready for a tough battle as I think all the riders are going very fast and improving," said Al Naimi.
"Round 1 was a real fight with Al Sulaiti and I hope the next round will be just as spectacular for the spectators," added Al Naimi.
Saeed Al Sulaiti was the runner-up in both races of last round.
Saeed said he will try to change his strategy with an eye on victory.
"In the first round I was struggling in the straight line. For the next round I will try to change my technic. Mishal and Nasser have less weight than me so I am trying to lose a bit of weight to run between them," said Saeeed.
"I am expecting again a big battle between me and Mishal and Nasser and the next race we’ll see some surprises with big improvements from the other riders like Abdullah Al Qubaisi, who is doing very well in the last track days and I expect a big jump in his performance, compared to round 1," added Al Sulaiti
The 17-year-old rider Al Qubaisi, the youngest rider in the championship, is working very hard on his fitness and riding skills and in the last track day he improved significantly his lap timing dropping 3 seconds from last week. "Every time I feel much better on the bike and I have more confidence. In the last track day, I was faster than in the last race and I dropped 3 seconds in my lap timing. I hope to make a better result in the next round and a big thanks to QMMF, Losail Circuit Sports Club and my coach Al Sulaiti for their support," stated Abdullah .
In the championship standings, Saeed is second with 40 points and Nasser Al Malki is third with 32 points. Ali Al Shammari and Fahad Al Sowaidi are in fourth position with 24 points.
On Friday, the track activity will start at 10:00 with the Free Practice 1 and the Free Practice 2 will be at 13:15. Superpole 1 is scheduled at 15:45 and Superpole 2 at 16:10. On Saturday, the Race 1 will start at 11:30 and Race 2 at 14:30.
Also the second round of the Qatar Touring Car Championship will take place on February 3 and 4 at Losail International Circuit.
The QTCC also witnessed a tough competition in the opening round between the front three drivers Abdullah Al Khelaifi, Mansoor Al Hajri and Omran Karama and the excitement is expected to continue this weekend.
The leader of the championship, Al Khelaifi is looking forward to another thrilling battle with Mansoor and Omran.
"I want to start the second race of the championship, all my preparations are going well and I am ready for another exciting race with the others. They are getting better timings so for sure this round will be more challenging for all of us’ said Al Khelaifi.
The QTCC Practice will be on Friday at 14:30 and the races are scheduled on Saturday at 13:00 and at 16:00
There is free entrance for all the fans at the grandstand and also at the Paddock.
