24 year old Alex Cudlin has once again proved he is the man to beat in the most recent round of the Qatar International Road Racing Championship (17-18 0f March 2011). Lining up for round five of the seven round Championship, Cudlin was confident he could progress his Championship lead. The weekend started out tough for Alex when on the opening lap of free practice Alex’s engine broke forcing the young Aussie to miss practice time. Alex’s mechanics then worked at an impressive pace to replace the engine in time for the official qualifying session. With no laps on the bike and a new engine to use, Alex quickly asserted his authority over the rest of the field by claiming pole position for the following days two races. With round five of the Qatar International running in support to Round one of the Moto GP world Championships, Alex was eager to impress in front of on looking GP teams. Race one was held at 3pm during the day and Alex rocketed off the start to be leading by the end of the 1st lap. With cold track temperatures, Alex decided to ease into the race and see how things panned out before he made an aggressive push to pull away. By lap three the gap among Alex and his rivals was a mere one second gap. Alex then decided the time was right to make a move and gap the rest of the field. Alex produced a number of fast consistant laps to eventually cross the line 15 seconds ahead. With 25 points added to his championship tally, Alex was eager to progress that lead even further come race two. Race two was held under different conditions, as it was held at 10pm at night. With a strong head wind and very cold conditions blowing through, Alex lined up on the grid with a revised suspension settings in a hope to preserve tyre life. With the race getting underway it was Alex who lead the chasing pack into turn one. Alex decided to run the same tactic as race one and control the race. By lap five he made his move again to gap the rest of the field and cross the line with a ten second lead. “I’m happy how the weekend went. Obviously it started out horribly by missing practice but I was still confident I could qualify on pole position. I know this track well and was ready to ride fast, so it was nice to start on pole for my 6th time in a row.” “The two races were good too. I started out slow and felt my way into the race. I knew I had a good amount of fitness and could keep a fast pace the entire race, so at the beginning I watched the other guys to see where they were strong and weak then made my move on gaping them. I am happy because in the ten races of the Qatar International Road Racing Championship I have won nine of them. Obviously this is perfect for my championship but also a big confidence booster for trying to defend my number 1 plate in the Superstock Endurance World Cup in a few weeks time.” Said a cheerful Cudlin. Alex now leads the Championship by a massive 85 points going into round six of the Qatar International in three weeks time. With a total of just 100 points left in the Championship Alex could be crowned 2011 Champion at round 6. “I’m getting close to winning the title. There is still four races left so I guess anything can happen, but I definitely have the upper hand going into the final stages of the Championship. My goal at the beginning of the year was to win this championship as I finished 2nd last year and obviously we are on track to do that. Once that is complete the new goal is to win the Endurance again” Said a positive Cudlin. Alex will now fly to Germany for a week physical training camp with his team mates before his first European test at Magny Cours in France in two weeks time.