Nina Prinz and the Qatar Endurance Racing Team score a win in Superstock.
The Qatar Endurance Racing Team (QERT) fielded by the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) is in the vanguard of the FIM’s campaign to promote Women in Motorcycling. In 2011, the QERT entered an all-female line-up in the 8 Hours of Doha with Nina Prinz, Paola Cazzola and Nikolett Kovacs.
Last weekend, at the Losail circuit, German rider Nina Prinz, aboard the QERT Suzuki 95, won the Superstock category with Nasser Al Malki and Anthony West. This victory for a mixed crew is a first in the history of FIM Endurance.
Nina Prinz also shone in the Qatar International Road Racing Championship (QIRRCH) this winter. Despite taking part in only four out of the season’s six races, Nina came fourth in the QIRRCH, which Alex Cudlin won for the third year running. The next challenge for Nina Prinz is the Moto2 class of the German Motorcycle Grand Prix event at the Sachsenring on 8 July. She has been given a wild card to defend the colours of the QMMF alongside this season’s two QMMF Moto2 riders, Anthony West and Elena Rosell.
The second woman riding in the 8 Hours of Doha, Elena Rosell, was aboard the QERT Suzuki 96. The Spanish rider and her Qatari team mates had to drop out with a broken engine.
Nina Prinz, QUERT Suzuki 95
“After getting on to the podium at the Qatar International Road Racing Championship, I am really happy to get a win in Endurance. I have learned a lot with Alex Cudlin in the QIRRCH. This Championship in Qatar is perfect for me. The standard is high and it takes place in winter when we can’t ride in Germany. Now I have another chance to make progress as the President of the QMMF is offering me a wild card in Moto2 for the GP at Sachsenring in Germany in early July.”
Elena Rosell, QERT Suzuki 96 and Moto2 QMMF 82
“The standard in Moto2 is very high and I don’t know the circuits, so the first laps are sometimes tough. But I hang in there and I’m getting better. In Endurance, my only experience is at the 24 Hours of Barcelona, so I am just discovering racing as one of a crew.” Elena has clocked up the fastest time of crew on the QERT Suzuki 96. Asked to comment before the race, she simply smiled and observed that “all the pressure is on Anthony West on the QERT 95 today”.
Photos Good-Shot