Victory Team med de båda förarna Arif Al Zafeen och Nadir bin Hendi tog en dubbelsegeir i helgens tävlingar i Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Andraplatsen och tredjeplatsen gick till Spirit of Qatar 96 och 95. Mästerskapet leds därmed efter den inledande helgen av Victory Team.
De regerande världsmästarna tog en klar seger i tävlingen. Men de fick verkligen kämpa ordentligt för att ta denna sin 23:e seger i karriären.
Den långa startsträckan utanför Lulu Island gjorde att båtarna verkligen fick kämpa under tuffa förhållanden och det var Spirit of Qatar 96 som först tog ledningen framför Victory vid första rundningen med Fendi Racing som trea.
Här är resten av pressinformationen från tävlingarna på engelska med resultatlistan längst ned på sidan:
The lead trio held position for four laps when Victory went on their long lap. A lap later Spirit of Qatar took theirs and Victory moved ahead, overturning a 17- second deficit to lead the race.
The Emirati duo then eased away, going on to win by over 43 seconds and will leave Abu Dhabi with a ten-point lead in the championship standings. “Qatar really pushed at the start to get ahead and I knew we were going to have to work hard,” said Bin Hendi “It was very rough on the outside, maybe 2-3metres, so we took it easy. We saw 96 next to us who were flying and decided to take it easy and do the hard work and attack on the inside.”
This afternoon’s double podium finish completed a highly successful weekend for the Spirit of Qatar Team. “We showed what we can do in the rough, but our boats are just not suited to the calmer water. But they [Victory] did a perfect race and you can’t do much about that.” said Steve Curtis.
Spirit of Qatar 95 produced one of the best performances of the afternoon, moving up from fifth place at the start to give Ali Al Neama a first race-podium on his Grand Prix debut. “We had a great fight with Abu Dhabi at the start and the decision to take our long laps early really paid off and we were able to get ahead of Fendi Racing,” said Matteo Nicolini.
A steering problem during the race put paid to any hopes of a second podium finish for Fendi Racing’s Luca Fendi and Giovanni Capitella, who slipped to fifth after running in third place for four laps, before being overhauled by both Spirit of Qatar 95 and Team Abu Dhabi.
Guido Cappellini and Giampaolo Montavoci managed a second sixth place finish of the weekend in Poliform, ahead of Parsonage Racing and Welmax, with Relekta completing the race to pick up points after yesterday’s crash, ahead of Nicola Giorgi and Tomaso Polli in MITI.
ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX, RACE 2 – results
1. 3 Victory Team – A Al Zafeen (UAE) / N Bin Hendi (UAE) 00.37.57,89
2. 96 Spirit of Qatar – H Al Thani (QAT) / S Curtis (ENG) + 00.43,48
3. 95 Spirit of Qatar – A Al Neama (QAT) / M Nicolini (ITA) + 00.50,89
4. 5 Team Abu Dhabi – R Al Tayer (UAE) / J Tomlinson (USA) + 01.05,07
5. 10 Fendi Racing – L Formilli Fendi (ITA) / G Carpitella (ITA) + 01.37,89
6. 74 Poliform – G Cappellini (MON) / G Montavoci (ITA) + 02.34,73
7. 50 Parsonage Racing – G Manuzzi (SMR) / P Virik Nilsen (NOR) + 1 lap
8. 90 Welmax – K Selmer (NOR) / J Tandberg (NOR) + 1 lap
9. 91 Relekta – U Isik (TUR) / C Zaborowski (NOR) + 1 lap
10. 18 MITI – N Giorgi (ITA) / T Polli (ITA) + 3 laps
UIM CLASS 1 WORLD POWERBOAT CHAMPIONSHIP – after race 2
1. 3 Victory Team – 40pts 2. 96 Spirit of Qatar – 30pts 3= 10 Fendi Racing – 19pts 3= 95 Spirit of Qatar – 19pts 5. 5 Team Abu Dhabi – 18pts 6. 74 Poliform – 10pts 7. 50 Parsonage Racing – 8pts 8. 18 MITI – 4pts 9. 90 Welmax – 3pts 10. 91 Relekta – 2pts
MIDDLE EAST CHAMPIONSHIP – after race 2
1. 3 Victory Team – 40pts 2. 96 Spirit of Qatar – 30pts 3= 10 Fendi Racing – 19pts 3= 95 Spirit of Qatar – 19pts 5. 5 Team Abu Dhabi – 18pts 6. 74 Poliform – 10pts 7. 50 Parsonage Racing – 8pts 8. 18 MITI – 4pts 9. 90 Welmax – 3pts 10. 91 Relekta – 2pts
