Azzam, Connor batle to victory in SWS Sprint Challenge

Round 14 of race series produces close-fought contests at Kartdrome

Dubai UAE, November 17, 2015: Rami Azzam and Alex Connor emerged as the overall winners in Round 14 of the 2015 SWS Sprint Challenge at the Kartdrome.

It was clear from qualifying that the SWS Seniors was going to be a close fought affair as a just seconds separated the top ten on the grid, with Saeed Al Mehairi topping the timing sheets at the end of the session.

Two drama-packed races then decided the outcome on the night, with Azzam winning Race 1 after fending off Dubai schoolgirl Abigail Birch, who in turn had a tussle with pole winner Al Mehairi and Ahmed Al Hammadi. 

The trio battled it out, with Al Mehairi crossing the finish line ahead of Al Hamamdi and Birch who was later promoted to second place when penalties demoted Al Mehairi to third and Al Hammadi to fourth.

Romaldo Rabrooy and Craig Shenton completed the top six followed by Maz Nawaz, Anjum Shaikh and Dario Rubio.

In Race 2, Shaikh bounced back from ninth on the grid, taking advantage of a first lap fracas, and taking victory by 1.5 seconds over Azzam who had third-placed Al Hammadi in his slipstream at the chequered flag. 

Al Mehairi claimed fourth after a three-way battle with Labrooy and Birch, who finished fifth and sixth respectively. Allen Khoury, lady racer Nadia Khan, Salem Aladidi and Jhon Quiceno rounded out the top ten.

Azzam scored maximum points on the night to take the top spot on the podium, with Shaikh second best and Birch third.

In the race-within-a-race, the SWS Masters, Porus Noshir who took top honours ahead of Adrian Jones and Ahmed Al Mehairi.

Earlier in the evening Kamal Agha won Race 1 in the SWS Junior class after a tight contest with second placed Seif Al Naggar and Alex Connor who finished third. The trio crossed the line separated by a mere 0.345 of a second. Zaid Alami, Harry Hannam and Rashid Al Dhaheri completed the top six. 

In Race 2 Connor powered to victory by almost five seconds from Al Naggar, with Daniel Shields in third. Hannam, Jakub Fitzsimmons and Alexander Renner made up the top six.

Connor's win and third place clinched overall victory in the SWS junior class, with Al Naggar runner up and Shields placed third.