Qatari driver Nasser Al Kuwari competes in the official practice session of the Qatar Touring Car Championship (QTTC) at Losail International Circuit (LIC). Al Kuwari emerged as the fastest driver with a lap time of 2:27.028.
A round of the new Qatar Touring Car Championship (QTTC) will be held between November 30 and December 1, it was announced yesterday.
The new support race will be staged during the forthcoming FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTTC) leg to be held under lights at Losail International Circuit (LIC), organisers have confirmed following practice sessions completed by home entries over the weekend.
The official practice for the QTCC support race took place at LIC for two days this weekend to assist the participating drivers fine tune their cars.
During the two days of practice, Qatari driver Nasser Al Kuwari with a GT86 emerged as the fastest driver with a lap time of 2:27.028.
“Overall I am happy with the performance during these two days as it will be my first time I enter to this type of competition as I have racing in rallies before. I want to thank to my father all his support with this car in order to compete in the QTCC,” Al Kuwari said.
The second fastest driver was Saadon Al Kuwari with a lap time of 2:27.394. Abdullah Al Khelaifi finished in third place in a time of 2:27.807.
Defending QTCC champion Abdullah Al Khelaifi is looking forward to start a new season together with the FIA World Touring Car Championship.
“I am very excited to be back. This is where it all started for me and I am planning to defend my title and give a good show to WTCC drivers and audience as our race will be held with WTCC race of Qatar,” an excited Al Khelaifi said yesterday.
“Regarding the official practice, it went well as I gathered enough information to modify and find the correct setup for our race. I wish all the best for all the drivers and hope that the new drivers enjoy this championship,” Al Khelaifi said.
The runners-up of 2016/2017 QTCC season Mansour Al Hajri couldn’t feature in the official practice but he will take part in the new season although he will miss some rounds.
Also, on Friday, organisers safely completed another edition of ‘Losail Time Attack’ session.
Divided into 3 different groups depending on the specifications of the car, each driver was able to drive for two 20 minutes to get the best time they could and the drivers with the best lap time entered the final.
Qatari driver Mohamad Al Kaiat on his McLaren MP4 12C was the fastest driver in A category followed by Makram Bouchacra from Lebanon and Martin Staffel from Germany.
“It was amazing but I hope next time faster cars can enter in my category and the competition is more challenging. Overall the event was very good, everybody enjoyed a lot. I give my thanks to Losail Circuit Sports Club (LCSC) for organising this event,” Al Kaiat said at the end of the podium ceremony.
The Argentinian driver Juan Pablo Pinto was the winner in group B and Mohammed Al Khayarin was the fastest in group C. Al Kaiat also got the trophy for the fastest lap during the event with a time of 2:16.985.
