Mar 14th 2015 – There were no surprises in the fourth and last round of Qatar International Endurocross held today at Sealine where Abou Shaibah and Preston clinched titles in the E1 and E2 category respectively. In the veterans category the title was for Yannic Le Gouvernec and for the quads, Mohammed Al Kulaifi took the victory.
In the E2 category, Jake Preston took the two wins and the british KTM rider got the title ahead of Mohammed Jaffar who came second in the championship.
‘I am very happy, I had the two wins in Enduro today and I got the title, thanks to KTM Kuwait for their support and to QMMF for making this great series and definitely I will be back next season’ said Preston after his wins.
The Kuwaiti KTM rider Mohammed Jaffar , second in the champioship in the E2, was very happy with his result. In the first moto, Jaffar had a tough race after two crashes that made him finished in fourth position, but in the second moto, he made a great race keeping the second position from the start until the end.
‘I am so happy to be second in this tough championship, specially this year that is my first time in E2 class, new challenge for me, battling with Mohammed Al Balooshi, the arab hero and also my coach, so I had pressure from both sides, I am really proud of being here in the second place. Also thanks to my sponsors for supporting me and without them, this wouldn’t happen, Red Bull, Adidas, Sun Garde, MX Academy, my team Balooshi Racing team and QMMF’ expressed Jaffar after the podium.
The third position in the E2 was for the Emirati KTM rider Mohammed Al Balooshi . Balooshi got the hole shot in both races, but he ended in third place in both races ‘ In the first race, I made the holeshot but I made a mistake and Jake passed me. Then Jaffar was right behind me and I could hear his bike and for the sound I knew he crashed, so I looked behind and I made another mistake and then I crashed, so then Ben came and passed me. I stayed behind him trying to catch him, but not enough. In the second race, I was first again but in the second corner, because of the quad line, I made a mistake, I crashed and I lost the lead so, Jaffar and Jake passed me and I stayed in third position until the end. ‘
‘For the championship, I am not so happy to finish in third as I would like to win it again as last season, but this year too many championship, I am focused a lot in the MX Academy and my career in the Cross Country that is why I am reducing riding in motocross and enduro but I hope next seaon I will win it again’ Balooshi said after the second race.
In the E1 category, Meshari Abou Shaibah from Kuwait took all the possible points in the championship, 200 points and he was the clear and fair winner of his category.
‘First, thanks to Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation for the great championship and with my two wins of today, I got the championship after working so hard this season for the title. My next plans are more hard trainig in the US with my coach Denis Stapleton and be back in the next season’ stated Abou Shaibah after the races.
His fellow Moath Al Ansari finished in second place in the E1 category followed by Saeed Al Shenqiti who ended in third place.
In the veterans category, the french Yannic Le Gourvenec win his category and Mubarak Al Ali and Saif Al Kumiti both from UAE came second and third respectively.
Regarding the Quads, the victory was for Mohammed Al Kulaifi also from Kuwait. ‘ I am so glad and happy after the four round to win the championship and get all the points to finish first , thanks to Yamaha, Kuwait racing team but I am so sad for my friend Fahad Al Musalam who was leading the championship . I am really looking forward to come next season’ Al Kulaifi said after the race. Second place in the quads was for Fahad Al Musallam also from Kuwait and Abdulla Nasser from UAE. was third
In the two races of the Quads in this round, the Qatar rider Mohammed Abu Issa won easily both races, but the 50 points were not enough for the Qatar quad star to be in the podium of the championship. Abu Issa missed the first round of the champioship due to his participation in Dakar 2015 and finished in fifth position in the championship.
‘Today it was a great day for me , one of my favourite races to be honest , it is in my home, in Qatar, so getiing the two wins here makes me very proud. The organization is great, the competitors as well. I won the races by minutes, so the races were comfortable it was a good track, rough at the end but good training. For the champioship it is always sad not to win as I lost some races but hopefully next season I can take part in all the round and get the final win’.
Mr. Nasser Khalifa Al Attiyah, QMMF President and FIM Deputy President, was very happy with the final results of the Qatar International Endurocross. ‘First of all I would like to thank to all the competitors and team for their participation in this championship. The level of the riders is increasing and in every round we can see that the competition is stronger and harder so we hope to have more entries in the next championship’.
