Raja stays ahead of UAE Sportbikes rival Tannir

Dubai: Surya Raja maintained his 14-point lead over Mahmoud Tannir at the top of the Motorcity UAE Sportbikes Championship as both riders scored a win and a second place in rounds nine and 10 at Dubai Autodrome on Friday.

Yamaha rider Raja signalled his intent by claiming pole position in qualifying for the 600 Class, but in race one he was sluggish off the line and Tannir, on the Duseja Moto Triumph, took the lead and eventually the race by just 0.599 seconds. Erikas Savickas was third on his Yamaha ahead of Joe Oxley (Ducati) and Rob Nicholas (Triumph).

In the second race on the Total UAE National Race Day event, the top two positions were reversed, while Savickas was again third.

Tannir said: “Surya had a real good pace today. I did a small change to the setup from race one to race two, unfortunately it worked negatively. But still we had a very good day, first and second is still good and I believe we are very much in contention. It will make for a very interesting end of the season.”

Raja said: “It feels fantastic to be back on the top step of the podium. Unfortunately we have had two very bad rounds before this, with a new bike and setting it up. But now the bike is finally working better for me.

“It’s very, very close and the way it should be. We all have to push and with all the riders constantly improving it is good news for the sport. And of course the championship is wide open.”

Chris Doyle (Triumph) was the new ‘hot property’ in the Rookie Cup as he earned two impressive class wins on the day. He was followed home by Michael Collins (Yamaha) in both races.

Four rounds on two race days remain to decide the championship, with the next event at Dubai Autodrome on March 29 and the season finale on April 19.