Moto Rapido Ducati British Superbike star Scott Smart got his winter racing season off to a flying start by winning the second round of the Qatar International Road Racing Championship at Losail.

Riding alongside Abdul Aziz Binladen (yes, really) who competed in selected rounds of the Metzeler National Superstock 1000 series this year, Smart suffered with technical gremlins in practice and race one but recovered to win race two. He is currently joint-third in the championship table with Binladen.

"It was the first time I had ridden the circuit in anger; I had been to the track before but never ridden it so it felt great to ride a good bike round there. I had a few problems in practice so I only did a handful of laps but we made some adjustments and then I was quite happy," said Smart.

"We had a technical problem in the first race which was a shame but it was good for my friend Abdul Aziz that he won. In the second race I concentrated hard after what happened in the first one and got a good start. We had a good race and swapped places a few times then I was finally able to pull away a little to take the win. I hope now I can come back and do it all again."