DOHA: Qatar Motor and Motorcylcling Federation (QMMF) is backing experienced rider Essa Al Mutawa for the entire bike season, it was confirmed yesterday.
QMMF will also be providing guidance to emerging talent Abdullah Naif Al Qubaisi, who impressed fans with his lap time of 2.18.420 during the first round races of the Qatar Superbike Championship last week.
According to QMMF President Nasser bin Khalifa Al Attiyah, Al Mutawa (Yamaha) and Al Qubaisi (Honda) presented sufficient credentials to merit full backing from the game’s ruling body in Qatar.
“We are ready to back Essa in the new entire season,” Al Attiyah said yesterday. “He is an experienced hand and we feel he should be provided all assistance in reaching his goals,” he added.
“He is a very active rider who even finds time to nurture young talent,” Al Attiyah added. “We will be the co-sponsors as he competes in the Qatar Superbike Championship in the 2015-16 season,” Al Attiyah added.
“We will assist him in riding the course in the on-going season,” the QMMF President said. “He has been an active rider for many years now. He has agreed to help us as we develop young talent in the country.
“He will work with budding riders and help them improve their mental make-up when they get ready for action,” he added.
The new Qatar Superbike Championship season kicked off last week under floodlights at Qatar’s iconic Losail International Circuit.
“We are not only supporting the senior riders, we are also looking out for young talent like Abdullah. He is an extremely talent rider. He impressed with his lap time last week. That was surprising,” Al Attiyah said.
“We have decided to send him to the MotoGP Academy in Asia so that we could fine-tune his raw talent,” Al Attiyah said.
“In short he is a promising rider who needs our backing,” he said. “He is a star in the making.
“He will be at the MotoGP Academy from next year. At the same we will give him exposure at our Qatar Superbike Championship,” Al Attiyah told The Peninsula.
“”It is a good step for us that we have somebody like Abdullah and then we have a seasoned hand like Essa to help the young riders,” he said. “You saw the huge popularity of our championship. We had 26 riders in the Superbike 600cc class and another 24 names in the Supersport category,” Al Attiyah said.
“This is a clear signal that our championship is massively important for young and seasoned riders,” he added.
“We get plenty of requests from all over the world, especially from Europe. Our championship and the one in Japan are the two of the top bike races in Asia,” he said.
“We have riders from the US, Hungary and Serbia featuring at our championship,” Al Attiyah said.
Germany’s Nina Prinz (Superbike category), American rider Shelina Moreda, Serbian rider Manca Katrasnik and Victoria Kis from Hungary added glamour to the first round last week.
“I am very honoured to race again here in Qatar. It is amazing racing here. We have some of the most talent riders in the world are here,” Moreda said.
“It is great racing next to them and you learn a lot. I am really excited at the start of the season,” she added.
Al Attiyah said QMMF won’t stop now.
“Soon you will hear about a new championship for junior riders. That will happen once we have enough junior riders set to compete on the circuit,” Al Attiyah said. THE PENINSULA
