Abigail Birch, a Dubai schoolgirl, got her name etched in the Dubai Kartdrome record books on Monday night, becoming the first female to win an SWS RX7 Senior Cup race at the venue.
A student of the Regent International School, Birch took the winner’s cup ahead of Paul Chatenay in Round 12 of the series, while young Emirati Rashid Al Dhaheri took the honours in the SWS LR4 Junior race, with Jakub Fitzsimmons finishing second and Enzo Al Azhari in third.
Birch served notice by claiming the pole position in qualifying, but Chatenay was first to the flag in Race 1, finishing ahead of Birch and Rashed Al Falasi in third, while Ronaldo Labrooy, Ahmed Al Hammadi and Allen Khoury completed the top six.
Birch, however, pulled away from Chatenay in Race 2 for her maiden win and then claimed the winner’s trophy because of her higher position in qualifying after both she and Chatenay finished with 76 points each.
Labrooy finished third in the second race to claim third overall, and was followed by Khoury, Al Hammadi and Mohammad Akhlaq.
In the SWS Masters, Enrique Gluckman took the overall honours, ahead of Gary Jones and Porus Nashir.
The Round 13 of the 2015 SWS Sprint Cup takes place on October 19 at the Dubai Kartdrome.
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Two of the UAE’s top riders, Mohammed Al Balooshi and Sam Sunderland, will not be in action at Friday’s opening round of the Emirates Desert Championship, but organisers expect no dearth of excitement as the UAE’s National Baja championship for motorcycles, quads, rally cars and buggies finally kicks off.
Al Balooshi and Sunderland are both competing in the Rally Du Maroc, the final round of the 2015 FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship, and hoping to finish their campaign strongly.
Sunderland is 4th in the standings after a podium finish in the previous round in Chile and the Dubai-based Brit is hoping to improve his position in Morocco, while Al Balooshi is the leading “privateer” in the championship, currently 6th in the standings.
Emil Khneisser, the reigning Emirates Desert Championship T2 Class champion, will miss the opening two rounds of the championship because he is taking part in Morocco and then travelling to Portugal for the final round of the FIA Cross Country Rally World Cup, where he is fighting for the T2 Class Title.
The Polaris UAE Racing Team’s Ahmad Al Maqoodi, the reigning auto champion, will be there for the start though, along with the quad champion Humaid Al Mashghouni (Sebsports) and Jake Shipton (KTM UAE), the reigning motorcycle champion.
All three have been training in the UK in the summer and are now looking forward to the start of the season, where they are expected to face heavy competition from both new and returning competitors to the championship.
The championship will be a five-round affair, with the opening round scheduled for Dubai on October 9 and the second for October 23. The round will take place on November 13 and the fourth on February 12, while the finale is scheduled for March 4.
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