Doha, January 24 (QNA) - Abdulla Al Khelaifi won race 1 of the 5th edition of Qatar Touring Car Championship, which was held over two days at the Losail Circuit Sports Club, with the participation of 28 drivers.
Al Khelaifi has won the QTCC category three times before and plans to come back stronger. Ahmed Al Muhannadi claimed second while Hamad Al Asam finished in the third position.
After yesterday's thrilling qualifying practice, final races were lined up in the most exciting way imaginable. The defending champion Ghanim Al Maadheed had to fight tooth and nail to reclaim his podium position after three-times former champion Abdulla Al Khelaifi decided to shuffle some rankings. In the QTCC 2K category, 20 drivers participated in two races that happened Today at the Losail Circuit Sports Club.
With an increased number of participants and an extended timeframe for the drivers to work on maintaining their cars this season, the 2K category will be the toughest fought as the step into the next round. Race 1 was won by Abdulla Al Khelaifi, who has won the QTCC category three times before and plans to come back stronger. Ahmed Al Muhannadi claimed second while Hamad Al Asam finished in the third position.
The defending champion, Ghanim Al Muhannadi, could not make it to the finish line because of some technical difficulties with his car. "It feels nice to be on the podium. Last year, we had 9 podiums out of 10, but we started with an issue this year. We did recover in the second race, and we finished first. The issue we have is sorted temporarily, but we plan to work on it going forward," said Al Maadheed, the defending champion after his second race.
"Today, we finished the first round of QTCC, but the second race was so difficult. I started from the back, and the gap was tough to catch up. For the next round, we plan to come back stronger," concluded Al Khelaifi. He also added that racing during the pandemic has been challenging. Still, due to the safety precautions and measures taken by the Losail Circuit Sports Club, it feels safe. He hopes he can see more spectators going forward with the season as that is a source of inspiration. Round 1 of the championship concluded, but the teams were already seen preparing for the next stage in the tournament, which indicates an exhilarating season this year. (QNA)