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| Race report by Nawaf Al-Abdulrazak |
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| After coming back from Thailand and not having had any time to get set up and ready for the local national point races, I was hesitant to race my XRAY 808 â 09 spec, especially knowing that my car was not ready to race since I did not perform after-race maintenance after Thailand. |
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| Being hesitant at first, I finally decided to race just to ensure that I got enough points to keep my position in the overall national standings. What made matters even more complicated was that I was also the Race Director for the race and had to set up the local computer systems⦠which, as usual, required most of my time at the track. Result? 0 hours of sleep. |
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Yet with no sleep and an unmaintained & unsetup car, I still decided to race. After the qualifying results were posted, to my complete surprise I made it into the finals!
Now I had to think of a strategy to race for 45 mins (with no sleep) and finish the race in one piece. I decided to not risk anything. The clock started and I pushed hard for the first 20 minutes. Well, at least I thought I was pushing hard since since everyone seemed much faster.
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| Thirty minutes into the race my concentration started to wear thin from lack of sleep and knowing that I could pull a 9min pit time I decided to pit early. To his horror, my pitman started to yell back to me not to pit, but at that point I signaled him that I was too tired to hold 9min pitstops. |
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| About 95% of the rest of the drivers were pitting on 9 or 10min schedules yet I still continued to pit at 6min intervals. My pitman saw that I was having trouble focusing so he kept things in check and kept calling me in every 6 minutes so I would have a chance to refocus. |
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The buzzer went off at the end of the race, and as I was coming down the stairs thinking âśwell, at least I finished,âť my pitman congratulated me on my 3rd place finish!
How in the world I managed to pull that off I have no idea, but one thing is for sure: a rock-solid car that just keeps on going really keeps things at ease. I really donâ™t think any other brand would have done half of what my XRAY 808 did in that race. |
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Final results:
1. Ali Bulail
2. Abdulaziz Mohammed
3. Nawaf Al-Abdulrazak XRAY XB808 |
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| Point Race 3 |
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| Just another points race, but this time I had spent the day before working on my car on the track to get the settings in check and having 3 hours sleep after a complete breakdown the night before left me a bit more focused this time. |
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| With a very late kick-off due to system problems, the qualifiers got under way. Sure enough I made it into the finals, but I was not happy with the setup since the night before it rained and now things were no longer slick but rather it was grip heaven! This called for a back-to-the-workbench setup, which I was not very sure of but I had a 50/50 chance to get away with it. |
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| The finals got underway and after a very bad start (being bumped left and right), with very aggressive inconsistent driving I managed to push my way up the 15 driver ladder to 4th spot and kept things there for a while. |
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| With my pitman working things out, I was pushing 3rd and then 2nd for the last 10 minutes. But then the lack of sleep started kicking in once again so I decided to keep things consistent and drive more relaxed. |
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| A drive-by next to the pits showed that the pipe got a bad hit and engine could be going very lean, so I decided not to gamble knowing my position status. Back into the pits I went for a refuel and my pitman checked the pipe and quickly bent the stinger back into place. I was back in business but had to be careful to not allow the engine to overheat or bending the pipe any further. |
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| With the pipe bent and the shocks acting abnormal ⓠpossibly due to the shock boots being locked out ⓠI just kept things easy to finish the race in 3rd position. Only afterwards did I find out that I was in fact 10 seconds ahead of 3rd position⦠I really finished 2nd ! |
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Final results:
1. Mohammed Al Hajri
2. Nawaf Al-Abdulrazak XRAY XB808
3. Abdulaziz Mohammed |
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With 2 national races and 2 podium finishes, it was clear to me that this buggy and I were going a long way if the jinx doesnâ™t cross our paths and (most importantly) I get enough sleep next time.
With a bit of luck and some chewing gum, 1st place should not be too hard to reach. |
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