Great Success of the opening of the Losail Motocross Track
The first round of the Losail MX Championship organized today at the Losai Motocross Track was a great success in all the areas.
For first time ever in Qatar, a motocross event was organized in an international track with the participation of 35 riders from 12 different nationalites: Qatar, Kuwait, USA, UAE, South Africa, Bahrain, Australia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Germany, France and Great Britain in the two different categories, MX1 and MX2.
In the first race of the day, the American rider Dennis Stapleton didn't give any chance to the other riders and crossed the line with a gap of 1.15.157. Stapleton got the lead from the first corner and rode very comfortable until the end. In second place was for Le Roy Botha from South Africa finished and the kuwaití rider Moath Al Ansari ended in third place.
The three riders are competing in the MX1 category.
Regarding the MX2 category, the first rider to cross the line was Abdullah Al Shatti from Kuwait. Hassan Ahmed from Bahrain and Barak Al Jasmi from Kuwait were second and third respectively.
Immediately after the podium for race 1 for the Losail MX Championship , it took place the podium ceremony for the MX Arab Challenge with the best Arab riders clasified.
In MX1 in the Arab Challenge, the top positions were for Moath Al Ansari, Mishary Abou Shaibah and Mohammed Al Balooshi respectively.
In the second race of the day, the overall winner was again the american rider Stapleton. This time, the kuwaiti rider Moath Al Ansari finished in second place and Mishary Abou Shaibah also from Kuwait ended in third place. All in the MX1 category.
In the MX2 category, the scenario was the same as race one, and Abdullah al Shatti, Hassan Ahmed and Barak Al Jasmi were in the top three positions in their category.
Dennis Stapleton is leading the MX2 standings with 50 points, Moaath Al Ansari is second with 42 points and Mishary Abou Shaibath is in third place with 38 points. in the MX2, Abdulla Al Shatti with 50 points is leading his category and Hassan Ahmed is second with 44 points.
The FIM MX1 / MX2 World championship will be organized in the same Losail Motocross Track on the 1st and 2nd March.
Dennis Stapleton
‘I managed to get the first postion after lap two, as in the first lap I was very cautions as the track was slippery because of the water. Then I managed to get the lead of the race, riing calm down, easy race and keep an eye.
Definetely this is an international track , it is the biggest track in the middle East I have rode, QMMF has done a great job. For the internatioanal GP in March I don’t know if I will ride as I am training the Kuwaiti team, so we’ll see.’
Moath Al Ansari 'i likesthe track but is a tought one. The Losail MX track has a very high level for GP riders but he needs more practice to gain confidence for the coming rounds'
Mr. Nasser Khalifa Al Attiya , QMMF President and FIM Vice President
'I am very happy to start today the opening of the Losail MX track that will the scenario for the FIM MX1/MX2 world champioship on the 1sr 1nd March. We are doing this race as preparations for all the organization and to check our ability to organize the World Championship in a few weeks.
It was a really tought for us to finish the track in 2 month, we have pushed very hard to have this come true. I would like to thank Talal company and all the Losail International Circuit staff who really put all their support to built the track.
It is a big moment for Qatar to have for first time an international motocross track in the middle east to host the world championship and moreover to have the race under floodlight in a night race as in MotoGP.
I also want to thank all the riders for their support to attend this opening round in the Losil MX championshiop and also thank the Arab Federation for supporting in the Arab MX Challenge . I hope that with the great number of participants from different countries, it will show how imporant is the Qatar field to promote the motocross in the región. We really look forward to see the GP world champion riders flying very soon in this track and enjoy all together,