by Rizwan Rehmat
DOHA: The world’s top riders will launch the new motocross season at Losail MX Track later this week at a venue that was built in record time of just a few months.
Located inside the Losail International Circuit premises, the Qatar venue will host the first leg of the 2013 FIM MX1/MX2 World Championship on March 1 and 2, QMMF President Nasser bin Khalifa Al Attiyah said yesterday.
“We have managed an amazing amount of work in a very short period of time. The last two months have been nothing short of amazing,” Al Attiyah said.
“This will be the first time that a motocross event (sanctioned by FIM) would be staged under lights,” Al Attiyah said.
“We staged the first ever MotoGP leg under lights and now we are preparing for another slice of history this week,” Al Attiyah said.
Musco Lighting, the same company that illuminated the Losail International Circuit for the debut MotoGP race under lights a few years ago, has installed nine poles with mountain heights from 16 to 36 metres to cover the Losail MX track.
“All poles are placed in determined areas to provide adequate lighting of all track surfaces for rider viewing at race speeds and telecast of the race,” Al Attiyah said.
“It will be an amazing spectacle as we are preparing for a motocross leg. It is a difficult course designed only for the specialists who can handle this kind of sport,” Al Attiyah said.
Special care was taken in placing lighting at start and finish lines. In total, there will be 19 millions design lumens of light.
The track activity will start on Friday (March 1) in the evening with the Free Practice for MX2 category at 5pm and at 5:45pm for the MX1 category, Al Attiyah said. Pre-qualifying practice sessions will start at 7:15pm and at 8pm. Qualifying races are scheduled to start at 10pm and 11pm.
On Saturday, MX2 World Championship race 1 will commence at 7:10pm and for MX1 category the race 1 is scheduled to start at 8:10pm.
The Doha race will see a new race format for this year’s title race with both categories taking place together in the MX1/MX2 World Championship Super Final, at 11:10pm, a QMMF statement said.
Apart from the FIM MX1/MX2 World Championship leg this week, QMMF will also stage the second round of the Losail MX Championship ‘as a support race on March 1 and 2’.
For the riders taking part at the Losail MX championship, the track activity starts on Friday at 1:30pm (Free Practice) while Race 1 will start at 3:00pm, Al Attiyah informed. On Saturday the Losail MX riders will battle for honours in the second race set to start at 3pm.
Fans can buy tickets at booths inside Villaggio Mall and at ticketing centre at Losail International Circuit.
Children under the age of 11 years will get a free entry.
The tickets are priced at QR100, a QMMF statement said.
Fun activities for families are also planned for the two-day event.
“This is a great moment for Qatar and for motorsport fans in the Middle East. No motocross event of an FIM World Championship has come to the region before,” Al Attiyah said.
“For sure this round will be a big success and we hope to see top-flight action at our own circuit,” the QMMF President added. THE PENINSULA
