Kronfli meanwhile was struggling to repeat his round one form, and soon had to give best to British rival Sykes. A wheel bearing issue later scuppered his chances for victory, and the evo Middle East Editor-in-Chief headed for pit road. The balance had gone. Kronfli would beat Jawa to 10th place – following the Saudi driver’s early spins and setup problems – but would finish his race on the bench.
Elgammal – with the second-placed SR8 #21 car already well out of reach – now had the task of holding back Loffreda’s #24 car for class victory. The Frenchman (whose earlier damage were accentuated by a mismatching nose cone) had been set to take the SR3 class by storm until he was served a drive through penalty for exceeding the pitlane speed limit.
Back on-track but now behind Elgammal, the #24 was on a charge for third, leaping away from Ahmed Hamada’s fifth-placed #3 entry. Just 3s at the flag from a 10s deficit showed just how hungry Loffreda had been for the win.
Come race two though, neither the Grogor/Al Thani #1 nor #24 Loffreda cars would start on top. The #1 had been beaten to pole position by a resurgent Kronfli, while a non-start in second qualifying meant Loffreda would line-up on the back row.
An electric start from Kronfli quickly put 3s of clean air between himself and the pursuing Sykes/Kemp #21 machine, but a hard charging Al Thani soon battled his way past and into second. Suddenly the fight was on for the lead, both SR8 examples duking side-by-side into turn one, Kronfli doing just enough to hold off his Omani rival.
A late dive by Al Thani and a wide moment for Kronfli exiting the final corner meant the race had a new leader by lap seven. An increasing lead and 11 laps without issue suggested another #1 whitewash was on the cards. Then #1 dropped off the leader board.
