Dubai rookie driver Khalid alBalooshi begins his evening qualifying session near Dallas, Texas, yesterday. The rookie Top Fuel driver is currently fifth in the qualifying session. PICTURE BY: GARY NASTASE
ENNIS, Texas: Al-Anabi Racing gold Top Fuel driver Khalid alBalooshi is the No. 5 qualifier at the mid-point of qualifying for the AAA Texas NHRA Fall Nationals, the second of six races in the Countdown to the Championship NHRA Play-offs.
Al-Anabi silver driver Shawn Langdon is 16th with two rounds of qualifying remaining as the two-time, defending NHRA Full Throttle Top Fuel World Championship team, owned by Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Thani resumes its defence challenge of its 2011 world championship.
AlBalooshi’s gold Al-Anabi dragster was the quickest car of the first qualifying session with a solid 3.882-second effort; in the evening session, alBalooshi stepped up his performance with a 3.849-second run at 321.65 mph, but four teams stepped up more making alBalooshi the No. 5 qualifier with two sessions remaining.
“It was a very good day for our gold Al-Anabi team,” alBalooshi said. “We made two very good runs today, and I am proud of our team. We have two more qualifying runs to improve our position and try to win the race for Sheikh Khalid today. I appreciate the hard work from everyone on our team,” he added.
The day was more challenging for championship contender Langdon. After smoking the tyres by overpowering the race track in the first session, Langdon’s silver Al-Anabi car appeared headed for a brilliant result before the spun again relegating Langdon to the 16th position for now.
“We didn’t have much success on the track today, but this Al-Anabi car was on an unbelievable run tonight before it smoked the tires,” Langdon said. THE PENINSULA
