Race 2 podium-Tannir takes the win

Dubai, Mar 29th 2013 – Race Day 6: Qualifying: Mahmoud Tannir went out as soon as the qualifying session commenced to try and get a couple of clear flying laps in. Lap 3 saw a lap time of 1:33.385 which was good enough for class pole at the time. With that Mahmoud returned to the pits although there was still 7 minutes of the session left, the team decided to save the tyres and not go back out again. Still no rider beat Mahmouds earlier time and so class pole was his.

Race 1: The National circuit configuration proves a difficult layout for both 1000cc and 600cc machines to equally stretch their legs and so the 600cc bikes have an advantage in the corners but inevitable get caught up with the 1000cc bikes causing frustrations.

Mahmoud lead the 600cc after lap 1 but Joe and Erikas managed to pass Mahmoud by lap 3 and by lap 5 both of them had found a way past the Ducati. Mahmoud wasn’t going to give up and battled past the Ducati in lap 8. Sadly there wasn’t enough time to catch Erikas and Joe and at the chequered flag Mahmoud finished 3rd in class. Although the team were hoping for a better result they pulled back some points from Surya the championship leader, so all was not lost.

Tannir leads in race two

Race 2: After race 1 Mahmoud was determined to get ahead of the Ducati as early possible, even if it required a stronger pass than would normally be considered. A good start and 1st lap saw Mahmoud push his way past the Ducati and steadily extend his lead to over 4 seconds by the end of the race. The battle for 2nd and downwards was a real dog fight between Erikas, Rob and Surya, with Rob finally taking 2nd and Erikas 3rd. On lap 9 Surya tried to overtake the Ducati but sadly the Ducati rider closed the door which saw Surya slide off his bike and out of the race. The good news was that Surya was not injured.

With Mahmoud taking points off Surya in both races the championship battle has closed up and you can guarantee that the last 2 races on 19th April will be barnstormers with the championship most likely going down to the last lap of the last race of the season.

Race report submitted (edited) by Ian Rogers Team Engineer