- Sam Zian takes takes double SWS Senior victories on the night
- Luis Velasco scores maiden SWS Junior win
- Zaid Alami wins Junior Superfinal
Dubai, September 22, 2014 – Sam Zian was in top form on a hot night at Dubai Kartdrome during the ninth round of the 2014 SWS Senior Sprint Series, taking maximum points in the heat races and then doing the double by winning the Superfinal.
Zian scored third, second and first places in his heats and thus accumulated the most points on the night. Ivan Horsky was second by virtue of a win and two third places in his heats, ahead of third placed Hussain Umid Ali who scored a win, third and fifth.
Zian then proceeded to turn pole position in the Super Final into another win after a strong race long challenge by Umid Ali, which resulted in an intriguing finale. The pair fought it out at the front with Umid Ali snatching the lead during the course of their battle, but Zian retaliated in the closing laps to take victory by 0.337 of a second.
Behind the leading pair was Emran Ikhlaq who impressed with his pace and consistency, managing to edge away from the pack to claim his first podium finish at Dubai Kartdrome. Atef Al Barwani was fourth, ahead of Maz Nawaz, Ivan Horsky, Ahmed Bin Desmal, Abigail Birch, Adrian Jones and Mohamed Bin Desmal rounding out the top ten.
A total of thirty five drivers lined up on the SWS Senior grid during the course of the evening.
Zian reflected afterwards, "It has a been a long time since I took home two winners' trophies on the same night, so this is good reward for a tough night of racing. The SWS field gets stronger and stronger, with quality drivers constantly raising the bar in this series."
"The new format rewards not only pace but also consistency and race craft, this plays to my strengths so I capitalise on it when I can like tonight," he added.
Earlier in the evening SWS Junior heats Luis Velasco turned fifth on the grid into victory in his first heat, then followed that up with second place from sixth on the grid to claim his first winner's trophy in the series. Seif Al Naggar was second thanks to a win and third place in his heats, followed by Samir Malas who bagged a victory and fifth place.
From pole in the Super Final, Velasco took an early lead but was soon swamped by the pack which saw several drivers jostling for the lead.
Zaid Alami managed to get a break and take the lead where he stayed to claim the win by eigtht seconds, while behind him the intense battle for the runner-up spot resulted in Malas emerging to take second place ahead of Al Naggar in third, Omar Al Sheybeh fourth and Alex Connor rounding out the top five who crossed the line almost side-by-side.
A record eighteen juniors lined up on the grid for the four heats, and among them also receiving a trophy for her efforts on the night for Best Novice was Alice Haynes.
Dubai Kartdrome is set to confirm the remaining race dates in the 2014 SWS Series, which rewards the best performing drivers with entry into the prestigious SWS World Finals to take place in France next year.
