Qubaisi scored his first victory in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East at Yas Marina Circuit Friday, winning Round 8 in style to set up a dramatic grand finale to the series at Dubai Autodrome next weekend. Starting in pole position for the second race in a matter of hours, Al-Qubaisi again came under intense pressure from defending champion Prince Abdulaziz Al-Faisal who was out to repeat his Round 7 win earlier in the day. But this time Al-Qubaisi survived to grab glory on his home track after the Saudi driver spun off on the seventh of 25 laps while trying to snatch the lead, eventually finishing fifth. He had to work hard though to keep out Saudi's Bandar Alesayi who finished second, with teenager Fahad Algosaibi grabbing third place, as he had in Round 7 earlier in the day. In finishing fourth, Bahrain's Sheikh Salman Bin Rashid Al-Khalifa ended the day as he had begun it, holding a six-point championship lead from Prince Abdulaziz, but with Al-Qubaisi only four points further adrift. Musaed Al-Murar, Al-Qubaisi's Abu Dhabi teammate, celebrated his 25th birthday by finishing sixth overall and winning the rookies' class for the seventh time this season. Prince Abdulaziz had earlier boosted his hopes of a successful title defense by winning Round 7. Starting in third place after Al-Qubaisi had grabbed his first pole position in the 12-round series, Abdulaziz came through to win from championship leader, Sheikh Salman. Saudi teenager Fahad Algosaibi took the third podium position while Al-Qubaisi, who led for the first 11 of 25 laps, had to settle for fourth place. Saudi Bandar Alesayi and Al-Qubaisi's teammate, Musaed Al-Murar, completed the top six, with the Abu Dhabi driver winning the rookies class for the sixth time this season. __
