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Saeed Al Sulaiti and Sheikh Soud Al Thani garnered more valuable points for the QMMF Team as they fended off the challenge from Leopard Racing to nail a one-two again.
At the Phillip Island Circuit in Australia on Sunday, the QMMF riders paraded their impressive SIM racing skills to clinch the first and second spots in the 18-lap race. While Al Sulaiti, the three-time QSTK600 winner and former World Superbike Championship racer, posted his fourth win, Sheikh Soud finished second, six seconds ahead of Leopard Racing’s Dennis Foggia, the Moto3 rider who finished ninth in his class in the Qatar GP earlier this year.
Marcos Ramirez and Lorenzo Dalla Porta were fourth and fifth, respectively. In the 2019 Moto3 world championship, Porta had finished first, while Ramirez was third. Sheikh Jassim Al Thani was sixth. Leopard Racing’s Danny Kent, the 2015 Moto3 world champion, was seventh but his points were not added to Leopard Racing’s tally as he was deemed an ‘extra rider.’
The hosts QMMF, in order to keep up the fairplay spirit in the digital battle between the two teams, are not granting points to a rider, whose counterpart is not present in the race.
With his fourth win in five rounds, Al Sulaiti has topped the rider’s classification with 196. Sheikh Soud grabbed the second spot with 139 from four races. Ramirez was third after having accumulated 125 points from four races. His best was a third place in Mugello, Italy. Xavi Artigas netted 96 points for the fourth spot. Sheikh Jassim Al Thani was the third QMMF rider to have broken into the best five. His tally stood at 88 from three races.
The QMMF Team led the rivals by 45 points as they collected 518. Leopard Racing managed only 473. The Grand Finale is scheduled at the floodlit Losail International Circuit.
Pole rider Al Sulaiti and Ramirez exchanged a couple of attacks in the opening lap. Soon Al Sulaiti hit the front, Kent, Ramirez and Foggia began chasing him and they were followed by a patient Sheikh Soud. At the back, Porta and Sheikh Jassim crashed early to lose the contact of the group ahead of them.
As the race progressed, Al Sulaiti increased the pace and widened the gap. Behind him chasing Kent hit the asphalt a few times to be passed by Ramirez and Foggia. Sheikh Soud overtook both the Leopard Racing riders to maintain the positions for a long time in the race.
In the 10th lap, Kent and Foggia were seen battling hard for the third spot before the former had a massive crash and his bike went flying across the track before landing into the gravel. However, Sheikh Soud managed to cut down on the gap and was trailing to Al Sulaiti by two plus seconds.
Later, Kent met with more crashes and fell at the back. Sheikh Soud also lost the control and this allowed Al Sulaiti to create a bigger margin between them in the 16th lap before going on to cross the finish line with a huge margin of 14.752 seconds. Sheikh Soud quickly recovered the bike and his place behind Al Sulaiti and ended the race ahead of Foggia.RESULTS FIFTH RACE (18 LAPS, PHILLIP ISLAND, AUSTRALIA)
# Rider Team Time
1 11 Saeed Al Sulaiti (QMMF) 26:58.347
2 97 Sheikh Soud Al Thani (QMMF) +14:752
3 7 Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing) +23.689
4 42 Marcos Ramirez (Leopard Racing) +29.709
5 48 Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Leopard Racing) NC
6 90 Sheikh Jassim Al Thani (QMMF) NC
7 52 Danny Kent (Leopard Racing) NC*
* Extra rider’s point will not be countedRiders’ Standings (after FIVE races)
# Rider Team R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 Total
1 11 Saeed Al Sulaiti (QMMF) 40 36 40 40 40 0 196
2 97 Sheikh Soud Al Thani (QMMF) 36 31 36 0 36 0 139
3 42 Marcos Ramirez (Leopard Racing) 0 30 33 31 31 0 125
4 43 Xavi Artigas (Leopard Racing) 33 33 30 0 0 0 96
5 90 Sheikh Jassim Al Thani (QMMF) 0 29 0 30 29 0 88
6 5 Jaume Masia (Leopard Racing) 31 27 29 0 0 0 87
7 52 Danny Kent (Leopard Racing) 0 40 0 33 0 0 73
8 8 Abdulla Al Qubaisi (QMMF) 0 0 31 36 0 0 67
9 7 Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing) 0 0 0 29 33 0 62
10 48 Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Leopard Racing) 0 0 0 0 30 0 30
11 71 Hamad Al Sahouti (QMMF) 0 28 0 0 0 0 28
# TEAMS’ STANDINGS R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 Total
1 QMMF 76 124 107 106 105 0 518
2 Leopard Racing 64 130 92 93 94 0 473
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30/06/2020
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