Maiden Sodi World Series victory for UAE's Ahmed Al Hammadi

After a series of previous appearances on the lower steps of the podium, Ahmed Al Hammadi, finally secured the top step with a convincing win during the Sodi World Series (SWS) race night on Monday at the Dubai Kartdrome.

Veteran racer Carsten Winter returned to the podium with a Masters triumph, denying Mohammed Ismail a third consecutive victory.

A special race format was introduced for the evening, which included two points scoring heats followed by a winner-take-all final race.

Coming off a win from the last round, Rami Azzam continued his domination, topping the grid of thirty racers with a best qualifying lap time of 1:11.892, clipping Allen Khoury’s best time by only 0.033 seconds.

The pole sitter got a clean start in heat one and managed to fend off challenges from his rivals. Khoury dropped back while Romaldo Labrooy moved up from third and Ahmed Al Hammadi moved up from fourth to challenge for the lead. Azzam held on for the win, crossing the line 0.145 seconds ahead of Labrooy, while Al Hammadi was another 0.117 seconds back to claim third.

With all to win in the final race, drivers were battling for every corner to gain position. Al Hammadi waited for his chance to pounce on the three drivers ahead.

The Emirati recalled, "I saw everyone fighting, so I took the chance and passed them."

On getting his first SWS victory Al Hammadi said, "It was very good. I’m very, very lucky today." His next goal is to earn enough race points to compete in the SWS World Finals in Paris next year.

The next SWS Sprint Series round will take place on Monday night, 21 August at Dubai Kartdrome.