(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Defending champion Alex Cudlin started the new season of Qatar SuperBike Championship (QSBK) with two wins at Losail International Circuit on Saturday night.
In the first race, despite the Australian not starting on pole, it took him only two laps to take the lead of the race.
He won the race 3.197 seconds ahead of Mishal Al Naimi. Nasser Al Malki was third.
In the second race too, Cudlin won ahead of Al Naimi but Saeed Al Sulaiti finished third.
Cudlin was extremely happy after the two victories in the opening round. "The first race was really nice to win. I won by 3 seconds, but physically I was feeling really bad and tired after the race. In the second race, however, for some reason, I wasn't tired at all. I think the second race has been the most fun race I have ever had at Losail. I passed Mishal and he passed me maybe around 20 times and never once we touched, but we were really close. I am happy to have two wins, lead the championship. I will be back in 2 weeks for the World Superbike Championship weekend," Cudlin said after the podium ceremony.
Al-Naimi expressed satisfaction with his performance in the opening round and the bike. "These two podiums are very good for me and for my championship campaign. In the first race, I had problems overtaking Alex, who was very fast, but in the second race, I felt better and led the race for seven laps. But in the corner six, I almost crashed and lost the lead to Alex. I tried to close the gap and I was fighting with him in all the remaining laps but there was too much traffic on the track. For the next round, I'll try to change the strategy because with 47 riders on the track you have to change the plan. Congratulations to Alex, Nasser and Saeed and thanks to Ooredoo for sponsoring me," he said.
Al-Sulaiti said that the second race was very difficult for him. "It was a big fight between me and Nina (Prinz) with a difference only of 0.055 seconds. I am really happy to be in the podium especially in the opening round. Last year, I was not lucky in all the rounds. But this season I think it is a good start and I am looking forward to the next races. I want to thank QMMF and Mr. Nasser Khalifa al-Attiyah, for their continuous support and belief in me, and also thanks to NBK," Al Sulaiti said after his podium.
In the Losail Asian Road Racing Series, Serbian rider Milos Milovanovic won the first race while Manca Katrasnik from Slovenia won the second race.
The next QSBK race will be run as a support race of the last round of World Superbike Championship, which will
take place at the Losail International Circuit on October 30-November 2.
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