Young riders in action during the second round of Qatar Motorsports Academy Challenge at Losail Circuit Sports Club on Saturday.
From zero to 63 young riders competing in four categories in just over a year’s time clearly underlines the growing interest in two-wheel racing in Qatar.
The Qatar Motor Academy (QMA), which was launched in October 2018, has created a buzz among young riding fans, aged between 8 and 16, by setting up their own championship in a short period of time.
Last week, the second round the Qatar Motorsports Academy Challenge at Losail Circuit Sports Club saw a total of 37 children in action.
A few of those young riders were seen crying for missing out on a podium finish at the racing road track (Karting Area).
According to former MotoGP and WorldSBK rider Jose Luis Cardoso, who is the Head of QMA, young riders in Qatar have picked up pace in real quick time.
“We have two more rounds in this series. This year we have more rounds compared to last season. The kids were not experienced enough to have more rounds last year. But this year, we thought of creating a championship and we believe they (the kids) are becoming better riders,” Cardoso said in an interview.
“They have become more competitive and they have chance to improve the lap times and feel the rhythm of the competition. They also enjoy the qualifying practice and are becoming much better. Their improvement is so good,” Cardoso added.
“We also have a round off-road. That would be the only round away from this surface. We divide our training on both surfaces. There is technical training that gives them chance to know how to control the bike on slippery conditions and how to slide. Two out of every 10 training sessions are off-road,” the QMA official said.
Cardoso said the QMA has been inundated with requests for more young entries.
“At the moment we have 63 kids registered at the Qatar Motor Academy. There are four categories - 70, 110, 125 and 400cc bikes. Now we have 16 Qatari riders. Probably, next week we will have few more as 6 or 7 riders will be joining us soon. We had skills tests and they came through. We also have 11 girl riders including female Qatari riders at the academy,” Cardoso said.
“In the QTSK, we tried our more talented guys, the older riders. We started to practice almost a month and half ago. Eight of our guys featured in the QTSK 300 and they took part in the first race. It was amazing to see our young riders racing in the top class and on the circuit in the national championship. We did not think this would happen so quickly. We started from zero and now this. Everybody is so happy,” Cardoso said with a smile.
“We get help from Aspire Academy, who know how to promote our academy at schools. They see the ability of the kids and get to know who have potential. We have a limit of 75 riders. We can’t have more as we very carefully see them clearing the skills test,” he added.
Cardoso said the talented ones will go to Spain during the summer, just like last year.
“In the summer time, we take the academy riders to Spain for two months since the weather is too hot here. We train them for three weeks. We have top facilities like gym, pools etc in a country house. It is an amazing experience for these young riders. Last year, we did it and they enjoyed it. We take them to the south of Spain and go to three different tracks. We have an agreement with Losail Circuit and the riders from get the opportunity to learn and experience,” Cardoso said.
“The journey has been amazing. We did not expect this kind of interest as we started from zero. To have the level of riding at this young age is amazing. After a few months, we could see the riders improving. Come and see our riders. They are working hard. It’s two hours when they come here. They are building up really nicely,” he added.
Cardosa is assisted by QMA coaches Alberto Moncayo, Ruben Herrera, Andrea Sibaja and Mateo Tnez.
