Al Bloushi and Chatenay share the spoils in SWS Sprint Series round four

Sport360 staff 10:52 26/03/2014
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  • Racing line: The winners with their trophies.

    Round four of the 2014 SWS Sprint series at the Kartdrome on Monday night saw a big field of top drivers competing in the RX7 Senior and LR4 Junior categories.

    In the SWS RX7 Seniors, Jiby Kuriakose powered to pole position in qualifying, a mere 0.168 faster than Dubai-based schoolgirl Abi Birch.

    In one of the closest fought races in races in the SWS series, Hadi Al Bloushi took victory in race one after a thrilling duel with Kuriakose, former champion Paul Chatenay and Hussein Umid Ali.

    The quartet lapped in tandem as Bloushi crossed to claim maximum points ahead of Kuriakose in second, Chatenay third and Umid Ali fourth – less than a second separating them.

    Ali Al Mansoori was fifth ahead of Oleg Kazakov in sixth, with Umid Ali setting the fastest lap of 1 minute 11.570 seconds.

    In the second race, Chatenay took top spot after managing to edge out a 1.7 seconds lead by the time he crossed the chequered flag.

    He also set the fastest lap of 1 minute 11.652 seconds in the process.

    Umid Ali fought off the attentions of Al Bloushi, the pair crossing the line side-by-side to finishsecond and third respectively.

    Kuriakose was fourth ahead of Birch in fifth and Maz Nawaz finishing sixth.

    Earlier in the evening, the SWS LR4 juniors also delivered close racing of the highest order, with the UAE’s 2014 SWS World Finals representative Mansoor Al Sarraj claiming pole position during the qualifying session.

    In Race 1, Samuel Garbutt was in inspired form as he powered to a comfortable 8.752 seconds win over Alex Connor, who carved his way through the field from last on the grid to claim second place.

    The youngest driver in the field, Samir Malas, impressed on his way to a remarkable third place after a race-long duel with Al Sarraj, who finished fifth.

    In Race 2, Connor inherited victory when Kamal Agha, who crossed the finish line first, was given a 10 seconds penalty for ‘avoidable contact where advantage was gained’ but before that the duo delivered a masterclass in close racing.

    Agha’s penalty eventually demoted him from first to fifth place overall.

    Oliver Wilson was second, Garbutt third and fourth place went to Malas, who led early on in the final race as he did in the first race but was unable to hold his advantage.

    The next round of the SWS Sprint Series takes place at the Kartdrome on April 13.

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