Alex Cudlin Dominates On Return to Qatar Taree’s [Australia] motorcycle ace, Alex Cudlin, has returned in dominant form at the weekend [January 14], racing in the Qatar International Road Racing Championship. Alex was called upon by Team QMMF to fly to Qatar to try and win the championship for them once again. Riding with the number 1 plate after winning the championship in 2011, Alex proved why he is still the best in Qatar. With two rounds already run that Alex had not contested, Alex entered the race at a disadvantage, with zero points on the board and no testing time to prepare the bike. The race weekend started slowly for Alex, with the bike suffering electrical problems in the first and only practice session. Unable to find the cause of the problem, Alex had no option but to qualify in the best position he could, struggling with the bike throughout the entire qualifying session. Despite the problems, Alex managed to qualify in 2nd spot on the grid. The team mechanics worked on the bike overnight and in the 20-minute warm up session the next day, Alex was able to confirm that the electrical problem was fixed and he would be able to enter the first race confident of a strong result. The race got underway with Alex storming to the front of the pack on lap 2. He then began a tussle with Moto2 Grand Prix rider and local boy Mashel Al Niami, as they raced away from British Superbike ace, Scott Smart, in 3rd position. Alex kept his fast lap times consistent, leaving the rest of the field in his wake, and he crossed the line in a decisive first position, 2.5 seconds ahead of Al Niami and 22 seconds ahead of 3rd placed Smart. Even though he had won the first race convincingly, Alex wasn’t totally happy with the set up of the bike, and with just 2 hours between race one and race two, he decided to try a different front tyre for race two. With the tyre unknown to Cudlin it was a risk, but he decided to go with it. Race 2 got underway, with Cudlin storming to the lead on lap 1. However, the next 12 laps proved to be a thriller for the onlookers when Cudlin, Al Niami and Smart swapped places in the field, battling lap for lap, each wanting to dominate the second race. With 3 laps remaining Alex managed to set his fastest lap of the race and created a big enough gap to leave the other two riders to fight over 2nd and 3rd place. The second race podium was exactly the same as the first, with Alex in 1st, Al Niami in 2nd and Smart in 3rd. “I’m really happy to come back and win straight away for QMMF. Last year I dominated the series but unfortunately this year I didn’t have a ride for the first 2 rounds, as QMMF hadn’t decided what they wanted to do with their race lineup. “Mashel and Scott have done this series from the start, so I was eager to get back and try to get as many points as I could in order to climb to the lead in the series. I didn’t have any testing time on the bike at all. I basically got off the plane and went straight into the race, which made it difficult, but hopefully my results spoke for themselves. “There are 4 rounds remaining in the Championship and I’m a long way behind Scott and Mashel now because of missing the first 2 rounds, but if I continue winning each race like I did on the weekend, it’s possible to still win the championship. It would be great to win it two years in a row. I know Mashel will be tough in the remaining rounds and Scott now has a point to prove, but with more time on the bike I can only get faster, so I’m confident of a good year ahead. I certainly want to keep that number 1 plate in my possession,” said a positive Cudlin. With this being the first race of Alex’s 2012 racing season, Alex couldn’t be happier.