Dubai: Saudi ace Abdul Aziz Bin Laden was crowned UAE sportbike champion after powering to victory in both races aboard his Liberty Kawasaki at the Dubai Autodrome on Friday.
Mahmoud Tannir relinquished his crown after a feisty battle in race one, challenging Bin Laden for the lead but to no avail. He slipped off and with that the championship was no longer his. He bounced back to finish third in race two.
Gernot Dobida finished second in the first race while Erikas Savickas was runner-up in race two, while newly crowned Rookie Cup champion Michael Collins did the business in both races on the day.
Bin Laden said afterwards: “It feels really good to be UAE champion. I’d like to thank Liberty Kawasaki for their support and my team for consistently giving me a good bike to ride.”
In the NGK Racing Series, Gulf Petrochem teammates Coastas Papantonis and Alexandros Annivas had wrapped up the Class 1 and Clio Cup titles before the final day.
Tense
The real focus was on the big Class 2 title-deciding battle where Honda pair Jonathan Mullan, Rupesh Channake and Renault driver Annivas topped the poitns standings going into the final two races with double points up for grabs. It was a tense two races but when the chequered flag dropped at the end of the day, Mullan’s two victories were enough to crown him Class 2 champion, with Annivas upswetting the odds to take second place in the championship and Channake third.
On the day, Dragon Racing Ferrari driver Leon Price was overall winner in race one, with Papantonis winning race two in his SEAT. Shannon Ward was runner-up in both races.
Richard Birch, general manager of Dubai Autodrome, summed up: “It was a tough season, granted the fields dwindled but the quality remained with proof being the two titles only decided on the very last day.”
