DOHA: Mohammed Al Balooshi from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was the star of yesterday’s Qatar International Enduro meeting that was organised by Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) at Sealine Beach Resort.
The UAE driver, who rode with a KTM bike, won both races of his E2 category.
In the first race, he beat Jassim Nassir, who won the previous round in March.
In the second race of the same category, he held off his compatriot Saeed Al Shemanti.
Al Balooshi was thrilled with both wins.
“I joined the first round of this championship but I had an engine problem and I couldn’t get points. But I am very happy to win both races and I will fight for the championship,” Al Balooshi said yesterday.
“I would like to thank the organisation team and QMMF for their hospitality. The QMMF make me feel as if I am riding at home.”
A total of 47 riders from 11 countries took part in the second round.
QMMF yesterday confirmed for the rest of the championship, instead of overall results, points will be awarded for each category (E1, E2, E3 and Quads).
In the first race that started at 10.20am, the winner of E1 category was Yamaha rider Abdullah Al Shatti from Kuwait. Mohammed Jaffar, also from Kuwait, grabbed second place.
Meanwhile, Khalid Khamis from the UAE won the E3 category.
In the quads category, Abdulla Nasser Al Ali finished in first position while Qatari rider Adel Hussain Abdulla finished in second place.
In the second race of the E1 category, Tycho Lieske of Germany, was the winner (Yamaha). Abdulla Al Shatti was in second place.
“I also joined the first round of Enduro in the E1 category and I will participate in the other rounds,” Abdulla said.
“This time the track was different than the first time. It was tough. For this round, there were so many participants which made the start more challenging for us. I would like to thank the oragnisers of this event for a good event,” he said.
Khalid Khamis was again the winner in the E3 category. For the quad race, the winner of this second race was Obaid Al Kitbe and Abdulla Nasser Al Ali finished in second position.
Meanwhile, in Jassim Nassir was disappointed with his performance.
“I won the two races in the first round riding in the E1 category but for this round and the future rounds I will participate in the E2 category. My objective is to get the title of the E2 category. Today we had the problem of the water that makes it more risky and can damage the engine of the bike, but the track was nice and different than the previous round. I want to thank my new sponsor SkyDiveDubai for their support.”
After each race, the QMMF President Nasser bin Khalifa Al Attiyah, Iain Black (Clerk of Course), Nicola Dunajewski (Alfardan Motorcycles Division Manager) and Rashid Al Sulaiti (QMMF Public Relations) gave away the prizes at the podium ceremonies. THE PENINSULA
