DOHA: Emirati rider Mohammed Balooshi exhibited good form in the opening round of Qatar International Enduro that took place at Sealine with the participation of 27 riders.
In the first race of the day, Al Balooshi who competes in the E2 category topped the field.
The defendant champion of his category led the race from the beginning to the checkered flag and gave no chance to team -mate Mohammed Jaffar to overtake him.
Balooshi crossed the line with a gap of 1.375 ahead Kuwaiti rider Jaffar who rides in the E1 category.
“I have start the season with a good lead. I am where I finished the last season, leading the championship and is always good to begin with victories. Now is time to play smart, do what is necessary to keep the gap and take it race by race,” Balooshi said.
“Today the track was a bit longer, almost 6km but it was nice and more technical than last races. It is a challenging track and I like it,” Balosshi said after winning race 1.
Mohammed Jaffar said: “It was a good start of the year for me, winning the first race of the year in my category. The track was very nice and I enjoyed a lot.” The podium ceremony of the E1 was complete with Kuwaiti riders: Mohammed Jaffar in first place, Abdullah Al Shatti and Tariq Al Hattab in second and third places respectively.
Saeed Al Shenqiti from UAE and Moath Al Ansari from Kuwait were second and third respectively in the podium of E2 with Al Balooshi in the top step.
French rider Anthony Claude was the first quad to cross the line.
In the second race, Balooshi made a great start and won from the start until the end with an excellent pace. This time, the gap between him and Jaffar was bigger (8.796).
The competition in the second race was fierce between Balooshi and his team-mates. In the first part of the race, Balooshi had the pressure of the Emirati rider Saeed Al Shenquiti and later the pressure came from Jaffar.
In the E1 podium ceremony, the first and second places were again reserved for Jaffar and Abdullah Al Shatti as in race 1 respectively.
The third place was secured by Barak Al Jasmi who was also from Kuwait.
The podium for E2 category was exactly the same as in race 1: Balooshi, Al Shenqiti and Al Ansari. THE PENINSULA
