|
Dubai: Rod 'Papa' Scott proved that age and experience do play a role when it comes to deciding a final winner. The Scotsman was at his very best at the Dubai Autodrome on Friday evening as he banked on the misfortunes of main challenger Abdul Aziz Bin Laden from Saudi Arabia to win overall honours in the Superstock Class of the UAE National Super Stock and Stock Bikes Championships.
Going into the final two races of the season, a mere two points separated Bin Laden and Scott. The 25-year-old Saudi fell off his bike on the penultimate lap of the 11-lap first and then ran into technical problems after leading comfortably and just two laps to go in the final race.
Top spot
"I have been unlucky today and these small technical problems undid the entire season's hard work," a disappointed Bin Laden told Gulf News.
Scott, nearly twice the age of Bin Laden, was over the moon at achieving such a great result for himself and for his Fat & Furious Al Yousuf Motors Yamaha Team.
"I am so very happy, not only for myself but for the entire team," he said.
"I am so pleased that all this came together for us perfectly at the end of the season," stated the 49-year-old. Scott drew first blood in the opening race to take a slender lead in the over standings from Bin Laden to set up a mouth-watering final race.
In the final race, both riders exchanged lead from the start while Pascal Grosjean, Bin Laden's Kawasaki teammate from Switzerland pushed from third spot. In the ninth lap, Scott assumed the top spot as Bin Laden slipped into fifth even as Grosjean kept pursuit of the leader.
The Stock Class went as expected as talented Indian Juzar Motiwala proving his dominance on his Honda 2007.
Meanwhile, Al Nabooda Racing's Karim Al Azhari comfortably drove his Porsche 996 GT2 to victory in the final two races to win the Group 2 title in the DAMC Open Saloons Championships.
Though American Cabell Fisher of the Khaleji Motorsport/NOVA Biofuels team dominated the Gulf Radical Cup, it was Fahad Al Musallam winning the 2008 Gulf Radical Cup Championship along with Shaikh Salman Al Khalifa for the 777 Team.
|
