DUBAI // Saeed Al Mehairi and Ramez Azzam starred in the second round of the 2013 SWS Ramadan Challenge on a hot Monday night at Dubai Kartdrome, the pair scoring a win apiece and featuring prominently all night.
Azzam signalled his intent early as he scorched to pole position in qualifying.
The top 10 were separated by less than a second and the top 20 covered by two seconds, indicating the quality of the field.
Azzam and Al Mehairi made a clean start in race one as the field behind them slugged it out, with common scenes of five or six karts side-by-side heading into corners as positions changed at just about every braking point.
At the front, the leading pair circulated as if glued together, Al Mehairi stalking Azzam and waiting for an opportunity to strike. But it never materialised and Al Mehairi finished .198 secs back.
"It was really close, I could hear him behind me throughout the race," Azzam said. "Every lap was like a qualifying lap. I managed to get a small gap towards the end, then on the final lap he got really close but somehow I managed to stay ahead. It is always nice to win against such a strong field."
Race two was a reverse-order grid, in which the top two in race one start from the last row on the 15-row grid, with the slower drivers at the front and the quicker competitors at the back.
When it mattered Al Mehairi, produced one of his best displays in SWS sprint racing, as he scythed through the field, making no mistakes as he picked off 29 rivals on his way to the lead, which he took on lap nine of the 12-lap race.
It was a masterful display that deserved the maximum points he received when the chequered flag waved to end the race.
"It was a good night, some very good racing with top drivers, a lot of fun," he said. "From the back of the field of course it was a challenge, but I was patient and waited just enough time," he said.
The third round of the series takes place at the Indoor Kartdrome on Monday.
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