Coming into this round, I had my mind set on winning as we approach the midway point of the season. I had a slender lead in the championship and wasn’t planning on giving anything up without a fight.
Thursday’s practice went really well as we topped the time sheets for the 600cc class. I was only 0.2s off my best lap time from last year’s race at Dubai Autodrome, which gave me confidence ahead of the race weekend.
Having five other series on the track didn’t help much with grip levels from the excess amount of rubber, however, warm up and qualifying went as expected and we managed to claim pole position with a new lap record.
In race one, my start was not the best so I had to fight quite aggressively to get into the lead. I knew I had a faster pace than Ahmad on his Kawasaki who was my closest competitor on the day, so it was very important to hit the front and just concentrate on the lap times and managing the race. I had only Nasser Al Shaiba on a 1000cc in front of me so I used him as a reference which made my consistency a lot easier to control. I crossed the line with an 18 seconds gap to win the first race.
Race two on Saturday was not that easy as I had a fall on the sighting lap due to a slippery part of the track. I managed to pick up the bike and bring it to the grid where my team only had a few seconds to check for damages before our start. I have to say it made me a bit nervous, especially during the race as I kept losing the front every time I approached a right corner. We discovered after the race that my rear brake lever was bent from the crash and it kept activating every time I dipped into a right corner. In addition, a bent handle bar didn’t help with keeping the throttle smooth enough during crucial moments of the race.
Luck was on my side as I broke clear to open up a significant lead. I kept my head down, concentrating on keeping the bike upright and leaning more by body into the right turns to keep the rear brake from pushing the front. It seemed the longest race of my life and I won by nearly 15 seconds.
I cannot thank my team enough for this round. My Honda CBR600RR was great to handle even with the damages, and thanks to the guys for giving me a great setup for the conditions, so this win goes to them.
Now that we have a bigger lead in the championship, I can relax a bit, but knowing that I will give it everything in the next round to maintain that gap.
Round 4 will take place on Feb 17.
