Dubai: Hadi Al Bloushi prevailed in a close finish to the fourth round of the 2014 SWS Sprint series at the Dubai Autodrome’s Kartdrome on Monday.
In the SWS RX7 Seniors, it was Jiby Kuriakose who powererd to pole position in qualifying, a mere 0.168 faster than Dubai based schoolgirl Abi Birch. The top 10 drivers were separated by less than a second — setting up the stage for what was to come.
In one of the closest fought SWS races seen at Dubai’s most popular karting venue, Al Bloushi took victory in race one after a thrilling contest with Kuriakose, former champion Paul Chatenay and Hussain Umid Ali.
The quartet completed the lap in tandem but Al Bloushi crossed just ahead to claim maximum points, ahead of Kuriakose in second, Chatenay in third and Umid Ali in fourth — less than a second separating them.
Ali Al Mansouri finished fifth, ahead of Oleg Kazakov in sixth. Umid Ali set the fastest lap time of one minute 11.570 seconds.
In the second race, Chatenay took top spot, running up a lead of 1.7 seconds as he crossed the chequered flag. He also clocked the fastest lap of 1 minute 11.652 seconds in the process.
Umid Ali fought off a strong challenge from Al Bloushi, the pair crossing the line side-by-side to finish second and third respectively. Kuriakose was fourth, ahead of Birch in fifth and Maz Nawaz in sixth.
Earlier in the evening, the SWS LR4 juniors segment also provided gripping action, with the UAE’s 2014 SWS World Finals representative Mansour Al Sarraj claiming pole in qualifying.
In Race 1, Samuel Garbutt was in inspired form as he powererd 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 — putting himself among top candidates for drive of the day.
Samir Malas, the smallest driver in the field, impressed by claiming third place after a race-long duel with Al Sarraj, who eventually finished fifth.
