The podium winners at the Qatar Touring Car Championship (QTCC) pose for a picture at the Losail International Circuit. Abdulla Al Khelaifi won the first place, followed by Mahmoud Al Khalaf in the second spot, while Omran Karama came third.
Points leader of the Qatar Touring Car Championship (QTCC), Abdulla Al Khelaifi won his sixth race in a row this weekend at Losail International Circuit.
Al Khelaifi topped the charts in free practice to start in the pole position in the first race of the weekend.
The Toyota driver took the lead during the whole race and managed to cross the checkered flag with a gap of 1.902 ahead of Mahmoud Al Khalaf.
"I managed to secure pole position and then increase the gap from the beginning of the race. I planned to save the tires for next race, however Mahmoud was always in my rear view mirror so I couldn't do anything but drive as fast as I can. Glad to finish first," said Al Khelaifi after the first race. For first time in the season, Mahmoud Al Khalaf finished second on the podium.
"I am very happy to finish in the second place. I tried hard to catch up to Abdulla but the over heated tires during the middle of the race upset my plans. I had to cool them down, but overall it was a good and a clean race," Al Khalaf said.
Omran Karama who started in third place on the grid finished third on the podium.
"The race was extremely tough, but I’m very happy to be on podium again. The hot climate was affecting the cars and making the race harder for all competitors. In general, the race went fine and I will come back stronger and stronger in the coming rounds. Being the champion holder gave me a lot of pressure this year, but I will surely return back stronger. Looking forward for the next race after two weeks," Karama said after the podium ceremony.
In the second race, with the reverse grid the competition was stronger and more challenging for all the drivers. Al Khelaifi, who started in the fourth row, was stuck a lot of time between all the cars and only at the third lap he reached the second place behind Mansour Al Hajri who was leading the race.
At that time, Mansour already managed to create a gap but unfortunately for him, he had some mechanical issues with his car and Abdullah overtook him in the last part of the race and took another win.
The second place on the podium went to Al Hajri. Al Khalaf finished the race in third position.
