(MENAFN - Gulf Times) In the second round of Qatar Superstock 600 championship, the thrilling battle between Saeed al-Sulaiti and Mishal al-Naimi continued at Losail International Circuit, with the two sharing victories in this round.
The first race was stopped just after the start due to some oil on the track, and the race was reduced from 12 laps to 10.
Pole-man al-Sulaiti was very strong during the start of the race and pushed to create a gap over al-Naimi. However, fifth lap crash at turn 16 costed him the win, and even though he managed to re-join the race, he finished sixth.
After al-Sulaiti's crash, al-Naimi made no mistake and went on to win the race.
The second position on the podium was for Nasser al-Malki, who finished 2.850 seconds behind al-Naimi. Young rider Abdullah al-Qubaisi finished in third position.
In the QSTK Trophy category, Essa al-Mutawa raced to victory ahead of Sheikh Soud al-Thani and Khalid al-Mal.
In the second race of the day, al-Sulaiti began pushing from the start and stayed ahead right till the checkered flag, beating al-Naimi by 4.877 seconds. Al-Malki finished third.
Al-Mutawa again took the victory in the QSTK Trophy, with Sheikh Soud finishing second and Sheikh Jassim al-Thani in third.
'Race 1, I started very good. The first four laps I was leading, and I noticed that Mishal and Nasser were a bit close to me, so I decided to push more. Unfortunately, I pushed too hard and I lost the front. But luckily, I was able to pick up the bike and continue the race, al-Sulaiti said.
'In Race 2, I was really happy mid race. I had a good gap of around 5 seconds and I decided to ride safe. I am happy to come back on to the podium in second race and retake the championship lead.
'I would like to thank QMMF and Losail Circuit Sport Club for this championship and for organising the test before the race and also to Team Saeed for supporting me.
Al-Naimi, who is second in the championship, said the set-up of his bike needs to be fixed.
'I am not happy with the set-up of the bike but happy because I closed the gap on Saeed. We started from Thursday with the private test and didn't find a good set up. It is very difficult to turn. We tried finding a good set up but maybe because of the wind or maybe because I am not working the right way, al-Naimi said.
'For sure we need time to fix it. Thanks to QMMF and Losail to organise the private test to try the suspension but with this weather, it is not possible to have a good set up. Also, I want to thank Ooredoo for supporting me in each round.
Trophies were presented by QMMF president Abdulrahmam al-Mannai and QMMF general secretary Abdulrazak al-Kuwari. Qatar's sporting hero, Nasser Saleh al-Attiyah, was also present on the podium with the winners.
The third round of Qatar Superstock 600 Championship will be held on February 16-17, 2018.

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