RAED ABU ZINADH SNATCHES VICTORY IN SAUDI RADICAL RACE AT REEM INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT TODAY

24.03.2011 / Reem (Saudi Arabia) - Cairo (Egypt) /

Raed Abu Zinadh, Prince Mohammed F. A. Al-Saud and Abdulaziz Bin Laden won their respective Saudi Radical, Saudi Formula and Reem Club Bike races at the fourth Saudi Racing Festival, held at the Reem International Circuit in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, on Thursday.

Abu Zinadh sealed his second successive victory in the 1500cc category of the Saudi Radicals Championship and Abdullah Al-Gain was the top finisher in the smaller-engined 1340cc category.

Prince Mohammed of the Saudi Falcons Team managed to overtake Faisal Al-Kabbani on the 10th lap of the Saudi Formula Championship race to extend his advantage in the championship, while Bin Laden was again the class of the Reem Club Bike field. The race win marked his fifth successive maximum points’ haul of the year.

The races:

Fiher Al-Sharif of the Big Wheels team held sixth place in the Saudi Radicals Championship before Thursday’s race meeting, but the Saudi qualified in Pole Position for the fifth race of the series with a best lap of 1m 14.450s. Race four winner Raed Abu Zinadh of the Saudi Falcons team led the series and the 1500cc category and qualified in second position, with Saeed Al-Mouri slotting into third place on the grid.

Abdullah Al-Gain of the GR8 Team held a two-point advantage in the 1340cc category before the day’s race and the Saudi qualified first of the smaller-engined runners with a time of 1m 16.252s.

Abu Zinadh managed to sneak through to take victory in the main Radical race, with pole winner Sharif slipping to second position and Lebanon’s Doumit Bou Doumit climbing to third overall. Prince Saud Bin Turki reached the chequered flag in fourth position and Al-Mouri rounded off the top five.

Al-Gain led the 1340cc runners from start to finish to extend his lead over second-placed Saher Fataftah of the Sigma Team in the championship. Mohammed Al-Tayab of the GR8 team was third.

Abdullah Bamogaddam of the Saudi Falcons team qualified in Pole Position for the fifth round of the Saudi Formula Championship with a fastest lap of 1m 26.46s from the GR8 Team’s Faisal Al-Kabbani and Sulaiman Al-Saheel, with championship leader Prince Mohammed F. A Al-Saud qualifying in fourth position.

Al-Kabbani managed to squeeze passed Bamogaddam to take the lead and looked set to hold on for the win, but he came under increasing pressure from Prince Mohammed as the race progressed and the Saudi prince managed to delight the massive crowd by overtaking Al-Kabbani on the 10th of 12 laps. He held on to the finish to extend his lead in the Saudi Formula Championship.

Al-Kabbani hung on to take second position, Bamogaddam finished third and Al-Saheel completed the top four. Sultan Kaiello of the Toyota Mobil 1 Racing Team reached the chequered flag in fifth position and Yazan Hamadeh, who started the race holding second in the championship, finished sixth.

Abdulaziz Bin Laden continued his domination of the Reem Club Bikes Championship and secured a fifth successive victory from Pole Position. The Saudi qualified well clear of Ahmed Al-Lanjawe from his own Saudi Falcons team and third-placed Muthanna Abu Ziab – his closest rival in the championship.

Bin Laden controlled proceedings in the 12-lap race to secure a comfortable win at the chequered flag, setting the fastest lap of the race of 1m 21.378s on his fourth tour. Abu Ziab claimed second position and the UAE’s Ibrahim Al-Sharidah of the BMW Racing team completed the podium places. But Abu Ziab was later disqualified for using fuel octane booster and this promoted Sultan Munif from fourth to third position and Al-Sharidah into second overall.

There was one faller in the field of club riders, in a race where Khaled Al-Hosain finished fourth with his best result of the season. Bin Laden has now amassed an unassailable 125 points from five races, but Al-Sharidah and Abu Ziab are closely matched in the battle for second position in the final points’ standings with one race remaining.

TS