Alneaimi, Alshammari vroom ahead with impressive double

Manama : Mishal Alneaimi and Ali Alshammari were both dominant on Friday as they each secured an impressive double in National Race Day championships at BIC in Sakhir.

The Qatari Alneaimi powered to a pair of comfortable wins in the second round of the 2016/2017 Bahrain Superbike Championship, while Alshammari claimed the overall victory in both races in the Bahrain Motorcycle Racing (BMR) 600.

Also sharing the honours were Tim Birkin and Hussain Karimi in the second round of the BIC 2,000cc Challenge.

In BSBK action, Alneaimi turned a double pole into a pair of fine victories as he extended his unbeaten record to 16 races held over eight rounds – a run that dates back to his perfect campaign in the inaugural season in 2015/2016.

Alneaimi (12 minutes 32.473 seconds) lived up to his tag as the favourite enjoyed a relatively easy win in race one as he completed the 11-lap sprint 15.031 seconds ahead of runner-up Aaron Moris from Australia, while Mike Edwards (+20.096) from the UK finished third place. In race two, Alneaimi was once again well ahead of the chasing pack finishing (12:39.231) and was 4.255 seconds clear of Morris at the chequered flag. Alneaimi’s fellow-Qatari Fahad Alsuwaidi (+18.657) completed the podium placers in third.

Both races had a total of 16 riders, each of whom competed on identical Ducati 899 Panigale sports bikes.

In race one, Alshammari (13:17.702) riding a Kawasaki ZX6R, did just enough to clinch a pole-to-flag victory ahead (+0.493) of Prince Soud Al Thani also riding a Kawasaki ZX6R. 

Mohammed Adhan Al Zaidan (+8.902) riding a Yamaha R6 claimed third place. In race two, Alshammari (13:16.676) enjoyed winning ahead of Prince Soud and Al Zaidan, who were once again in the other podium placers. They were each amongst the top three overall and in the Super Stock class.

In the Hornets class, where all the competitors were riding identical 600cc Honda Hornet sports bikes, Magnus Mossberg, Pawel Rosciszewski and David Wynne were the top three from both races.

In the BIC 2,000cc Challenge, defending champion Shaikh Salman bin Isa bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, driving a white Honda CIVIC, was the early pacesetter as he clinched pole position for race one.