QATARI racer Meshal Al Naimi claimed first place in both races of the Bahrain Superbike Championship (BSBK) yesterday at Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir.
Al Naimi won race one with a massive margin of 32.798 seconds ahead of Briton Wesley Pearce, who flew in from the UK specially to take part in this event.
Bahraini Ali Adiby was third, 33.119 seconds behind.
Suriya Raja of India, Shaikh Jassim Al Thani of Qatar, Ian Charles of the UK, Thamer Ibrahim of Saudi Arabia and RayadAlemadi of Qatar finished fourth to eighth respectively.
Al Naimi won the second race as well completing the 11-lap event in 13 minutes, 21.983 seconds.
He was followed by Pearce once again, who was 9.066 seconds behind and fellow-Qatari Fahad Alsuwaidi, another 9.205 seconds adrift
Fourth to eighth respectively were Adiby, Shaikh Jassim, Raja, Charles, Saudi’s Ibrahim Al Sharidah.
“The first race was good for me, I really enjoyed the bike. It had a good setup, and I tried to push hard in the beginning. No problems at all,” said the Qatari racer.
“In race two, I feel that I destroyed the tyres a little bit. But it was okay. I am very happy to finish both races in first position,” he added.
The 32-year-old also commended the organisers of the first-ever BSBK and added that he looks forward to racing again in the arrive-and-drive championship.
Positive
“It was an amazing first round; everything was very good; from the bike to the organisation to the people. Thanks to everyone who made it good for us. This is the first championship here in Bahrain in Superbikes and I am trying to support it,” he concluded.
“The feedback we got from everyone was very positive. It is the first round and the first BSBK Championship, so that is obviously a good step but on a personal level it did not meet the standards I want yet, because we had a lot of last minute challenges to overcome,” said co-founder of BSBK Hussain Al Kooheji.
Celebrity rider Carlos Checa was the star attraction at BIC yesterday.
Al Kooheji said more celebrity riders would be coming to Bahrain for the next round but could not confirm the name or exact dates.
“If it was up to us, we would have a celebrity rider come in every round, but we are currently a new project and to get a celebrity rider you need good financial support. We will work in the coming months to have another celebrity rider join us but we do not know when yet,” said Al Kooheji, who was once a racer himself.
Al Kooheji also thanked BIC and specially Shaikh Salman bin Isa Al Khalifa who took the time to attend the event and show his support.
“I want to thank BIC and Shaikh Salman for the efforts they put in to make this event a success. I want to also thank the audience who showed up and supported as well as the racers themselves. Everyone who was there played a part in the success of the first round,” he concluded.
In the BIC 2,000cc Challenge, Shaikh Salman bin Isa bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa also won both races of the day.
Race one was a two-horse challenge between brothers Shaikh Salman and Shaikh Hamad bin Isa bin Ebrahim, both driving identical Honda Civics.
A small mistake from Shaikh Hamad eased the way for Shaikh Salman to win the race in 15 minutes and 43.911 seconds.
Shaikh Hamad was second, 0.792 seconds behind. Alex Longden in a BMW 3 Series/F20C was third, 24.495secs back.
Shaikh Salman’s victory in race two was more convincing, coming on top in 16:13.950. Birkin was second, 1.364 seconds behind, and Stones third in 1:05.413.
Shaikh Hamad had to drop out of the race due to a mechanical problem. Karimi, Longed and Kellogg missed on qualifying.
The next round of both the BIC 2,000cc Challenge and the BSBK will take place on February 12 at the BIC.
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