Dubai: If you thought that a podium finish in his first American Le Mans Series (ALMS) race would have satisfied Emirati race car driver Humaid Al Masoud, you wouldn't have been wider off the mark. Al Masoud not only followed that up with another podium finish in the very next race, he also guided Oryx Racing team to their first victory in the fifth race of the series at Baltimore last weekend, a perfect Eid gift for the Abu Dhabi-based driver.
Driving a Mazda Lola Coupe, Al Masoud and his race partner Steven Kane negotiated their first street race in exemplary fashion and took their team to third overall in the LMP1 team championship standings.
Talking to XPRESS on his return to the UAE, Al Masoud said: "I did miss all the festivities during Eid, but the win was a great way to celebrate."
"I got a lot of congratulatory messages from friends and family while I was in Baltimore, although not everyone in the family knows a lot about motor sport. It was a long weekend leading into the race and so it was great that we finished on top at the end of it all."
It was a widely-publicised race since it coincided with the IndyCar series being held in Baltimore at the same time. "With Danica Patrick taking part in that, the city was abuzz with activity and both events got a lot of press coverage and so it was good that we won," he said.
Having made a great start to the series, Al Masoud and his team faced problems in the third and fourth races, before getting it all together for the fifth race. "My co-driver had a minor accident in one of them while in the other we had a radiator problem which took about 40 minutes to fix. We were focused on Baltimore, given it was a new track for everyone and no one had an advantage. It has to rank as one of my best drives," he said.
There are two more races in the series and Al Masoud wants to finish on a high.
"Having tasted success so soon, we really want to keep it going. Consistency will obviously be the key and the last race will be extremely challenging since it will be a 10-hour race," said the Emirati who plans to stick to the Le Mans series for now.
