Al Khelaifi tops in second round of Qatar Touring Car Championship at Losail

Home driver Abdulla Al Khelaifi produced a dazzling performance, winning both races of round two of the Qatar Touring Car Championship (QTCC) at Losail International Circuit.
Driving for Toyota, Al Khelaifi overcame stiff resistance from a strong field of 12 drivers including four new entries - Qatar's Abdulrahman Tolefat, Hamad Al Asam, Mahmoud Al Khalafat and Nadim Ziade from Lebanon.

Al Khelaifi now leads the championship with 57 points. Al Hajri is in second spot with 56 points. Omran Karama is third with 45 points.

In the first race, Mansour Al Hajri, who started on pole position, stayed in front for three laps but in-form Al Khelaifi quickly recovered from his slow start to grab the lead.

Al Khelaifi overtook Al Hajri and retained his first position until the checkered flag. Al Khelaifi's winning time was 24:16.688.

"I had a long fight with my friend and competitor Mansour. As I said before he is getting faster and faster and now I can't get him out of my rear view mirror," Al Khelaifi said after the race.

"He was pushing me throughout the race and I am glad we have such a strong competition which makes the championship more challenging and that gives the spectators an exciting race to watch," he added.

Al Hajri had a suspension issue but he managed to secure the pole position before ending the session. Al Hajri finished in second place as he did in the previous round with a total time of 24:17.188.

"I had a good start from the pole position. As was the case in round one, Abdulla was there behind me. We battled the entire race but Abdulla managed to pass me after a couple of laps. Due to a confusion in the number of laps in the race I didn't get the chance to overtake Abdulla," Al Hajri said.

New entry Mahmoud Al Khalaf - also driving a Toyota car - started in fourth place on the grid and managed to step into the podium with a third-place finish in a time of 25:01.176.

"My first race and I am on the podium, those guys have to watch out next round," Al Khalaf said with a smile.

"In the beginning of the race I had a good battle with Hamad until he spun out and from then I focused to catch up with the top two cars," he added.

In the second race, with the reverse grid, the competition was more challenging.

Al Hajri started from the ninth position but quickly grabbed the lead in the second lap. But soon afterwards Al Khelaifi stepped up the pressure. Al Hajri made a mistake in the calculation of the laps, and at the last corner of the last lap, he saw Al Khelaifi breaking late and he let him pass, thinking that he still had another lap to overtake but it was the last one.

"As in previous races, I was faster in some parts of the track and Abdulla in the other. I let Abdulla pass me thinking that I still have another lap to overtake me, but as in the first race, I had a confusion with the track signal," Al Hajri said.

"I discussed it with the Clerk of the Course about this, so hopefully next round we will have a clearer information on the finish line board," Al Hajri said.

Al Kheliafi took the victory just in the last corner of the race and offered a broad smile at the end.

"I will have to work very hard so as to not make any mistakes if I want to get this championship. Mansour is a very hard competitor and he is improving every race," Al Khelaifi said.

"I never thought I would be battling for the first position the entire race. It was great to see new competitors join us and I hope that our grid gets bigger and bigger," added the double winner.

The third position was won by Al Khalaf.

"It was an interesting race since we had to start from the back. It was fun and scary as it was my first reverse grid race and there was so many cars to watch out for," Al Khalaf said.
"I had a battle with Hamad for three laps but I managed to overtake him on the straight and kept that position till the end of the race. I am very happy with my two podiums today," Mahmoud said.

The trophies were presented by Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) President Abdulrahman Al Mannai, LCSC General Manager and Vice-President Khalid Al Remaihi and QMMF General Secretary Abdulrazaq Al Kuwari.

The next round will be on April 7 and  8.