600 Class: Tannir and Boyter take a win apiece as rookies make their mark
The opening day of the UAE Sportbikes Championship season will go down as a memorable day for Triumph with Alan Boyter and Alan Boyter taking a win apiece in the 600 Class, in a field made up entirely of privateer riders of which a big percentage were rookies.
Boyter scored his maiden UAE Sportsbike win in the first race of the season, beating his Vendetta Racing team mate Tannir across the finish line by just over a second, but in the race two Tannir bounced back to take top spot on the podium with Boyter following him across the line.
Joe Oxley was third in the race one on his Kawasaki, with Steve Blackney taking third on his Honda in the second race of the day.
Boyter said afterwards, “I am really pleased to have won my first race here at Dubai Autodrome in the UAE Sportbike Class. I felt comfortable and good in the first race. In the second race the heat was intense nd maybe that affected me. But winning feels good.”
600 Rookie Class: Morley makes his mark
Much of the preseason talk has been about the large contingent of rookies who have graduated from track days at Dubai Autodrome to the UAE Sportbike Championship.
On the day they impressed with some close and incident free racing. Most impressive of all was Chris Morley who racked up two wins aboard his Kawasaki, to get his racing career of to the best start possible.
In the first race he was chased home all the way by Ian Wilcox on the Honda who crossed the line a mere 0.895 seconds adrift and in Morley’s slipstream.
In the second race it was Honda mounted Richard Drake who ended runner-up to Morley, with Wilcox third.
Surya Rajal, on a Yamaha, finished third then fourth in race one and race two respectively.
1000 Class: Dobida’s one man show
Gernot Dobida was the fastest man on two wheels around Dubai Autodrome on the day, taking the overall win in both races on his 1000 Class Honda. However with the absence of reigning champion Abdulaziz Binladen, he had no one in his class to challenge him in the big sportsbike category.
Dobida said, “It is a shame that Abdulazizi [Binladen] is still racing abroad and not available for this round. Nevertheless I used this for practice and look forward to racing in a bigger field next time out.”
