'Moody' celebrates on the top step with Erikas 2nd and team mate Alan 3rd
After a 2 month hiatus from racing due to 2 events being held at the Yas Marina circuit (not certified for bike racing) and the Dubai 24hr race, the UAE Sportbike championship returned to action. A number of riders had been participating in track days to keep their eye in, but track days are not race days and so there would be a few cobwebs to be blown away during the warm-up and qualifying.
The team was back at full strength and the bikes had been refreshed with new fluids and filters. With the sun shining it was time to get back into action.
Warm-up:
No prizes or points are on offer during the warm so Alan and Mahmoud used the session to bed in new tyres and to check out the grip levels around the circuit. What was noticed though was the time set by Erikas Savickas, umm we might have to watch Erikas more closely today.
Qualifying:
With only 15 minutes for qualifying, Alan and Mahmoud were ready to go as soon the qualifying session started. 2 laps to warm-up the tyres and then bang in couple of quick laps and then pull into the garage to save tyres. Well that was the plan but that man Erikas put a spanner in the works by setting a very quick time on his 3rd lap, quick enough for provisional class pole position. No need to panic as the team was confident that Alan and Mahmoud would post a quicker time. Lap 5 for Mahmoud and he posts a quick lap good enough for class pole position and 3rd overall. Mission accomplished… Alan posts a time which sees him 3rd in class. Not what he was hoping for but, a good start would see him up there with his team mate Mahmoud and just behind Erikas.
Race 1:
Time to get serious. Alan wanted to win the race to try and regain some points from Mahmoud who is leading the championship. Mahmoud of course wanted to beat Alan to extend his lead which should lead to a cracking race…
As the lights go green, Mahmoud gets a good start but, an even better one from Erikas finds him leading after one lap, and the second, and the third….. Ermm, Mahmoud, this wasn’t in the script…. But have no fear, the quick lapping Lebanese rider starts to wind the wick up and eases past Erikas into the lead. The gap between Mahmoud and Erikas swings between 1 second and ‘zero’ over the next 8 laps, crucially Mahmoud never gives a sniff of an opportunity for Erikas to re-pass him and goes on the take the chequered flag. Alan has a lonely ride to take 3rd place in class and in his words “that was hard work”.
Podium time with Alan, Erikas and Mahmoud proudly taking the three podium positions. Nice trophies gents.
A mention must go to Surja Raja who did his best impression of a jokey on nervous horse in the starting blocks when he dropped the clutch at the race start. We could see his front wheel over the pit lane wall, not quite the start he wanted we think. Still once he got the front wheel back on the ground he forgot all about it and got down to racing.
Moody pushed all the way for his two top step finishes by Erikas
Race 2:
Race 2 was held about 75 minutes after the end of the 1st race and straight after the 1 hour endurance car race. Ian fresh from orchestrating Jonathan Mullans class victory just had enough time to get Mahmoud out of the garage and join him on the grid.
This time Mahmoud got a better start and led the class for all 12 laps. If this gives the impression that it was a walk in the park then then couldn’t be further from the truth. It was that man Erikas again who spent the whole race breathing Mahmouds exhaust fumes. Every time Mahmoud would open up a 0.6 second lead Erikas would bring it back down to 0.2 seconds the next lap. Ian on pit wall was having a heck of job trying to give Mahmoud accurate timing gaps. Still not matter after 12 laps of flat out racing Mahmoud takes the chequered flag, not only 1st in class but 1st overall as the 2 1,000cc BMW riders decided to liven up the event by sliding off their bikes at two different parts of the circuit and then remounting. Well done to both riders for getting back on their bikes and ragging the heck out them again.
Alan had another lonely race reading his pit board held by the every lovely Jen (who also makes a mean pasta salad) to 3rd place in class. So it’s back to the podium for more silverware.
Round-up:
The team celebrates the return to racing with 2 wins and 2 third places which results in Mahmoud extending his championship lead and Alan extending his 2nd place points lead over the 3rd placed rider.
So with 2 more rounds (4 races) to go the team will be going all out secure the top 2 spots in the championship. So until the next race day it toodle pip from Mahmoud, Alan, Ian, Jen and Aldrin.
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