This season has been steady so far with no major hick-ups until round five of the UAE championship. I was looking forward to this round on the national circuit at Dubai Autodrome since it doesn’t have too many straits.
It all went well on Thursday in the free practice sessions as the track was relatively dry, however, Friday morning didn’t give us the best grip as some showers, mixed with dusty conditions, affected the track a lot. Qualifying was looking good for a front row start, but I decided to stay one more lap and try to get a pole position to help with our race start.
Unfortunately due to the slippery conditions I missed my braking marker and ran outside the track. I managed to get it back but the rear tire slipped and caught me out on the dusty curbs, flipped the bike and lost the rear! I injured my right shin and calf in the process as my foot got stuck in the rear set. To add to the drama, the bike regained traction and cruised straight into the wall which resulted in heavy damage to the front forks, radiator and some other parts.
After clearance from the medical center, I was still considering racing for the points but unfortunately we couldn’t get the bike ready with the amount of damage. So this was a bad weekend for the team, but we will still think positively and look forward to the final round on the 15th. My injury now is almost back to 100% after some rehabilitation and physio so it shouldn’t be any issue.
I would also like to thank all my sponsors for helping out this season, even though it has been tough financially and we were struggling a bit with lack of funds. A special thank you goes to my Lebanese sponsors LIFCO group and my good friend Shadi who went that little extra in supporting me recently.
We couldn’t score any points from round five due to the crash so I’m currently sitting third in the championship. So far we have been finishing on the podium in every race, but the championship title is impossible at the moment. However, I’m really looking forward to doing my best in the final round and finishing the season on a high! Roll on the final round.
