Dubai Duty Free Speed Cat Run - Fazza return to familiar spot

by Karien Jonckheere on 10 Nov 2013 The Fazza duo of Arif Al Zaffain and Mohammed Al Marri returned to their familiar position at the top of the podium with a win in the Dubai Duty Free Speed Cat Run at Meishan Bay this afternoon.

The pair proved too quick for their rivals in the thrilling head-to-head battle contested over a 1.2km run at the sixth round of the UIM Skydive Dubai XCAT World Series, knocking out all in their path before taking on multiple Speed Cat champions Qatar Team in the final.

But even the combination of Mohammed Al Nasr and Abdulrahman Al Nasser couldn’t get the better of Fazza who were determined to return to winning ways after a somewhat troubled campaign in Europe during the summer.

'We really enjoyed the Speed Cat Run because there’s no risk on the flat water. We went out to win – the same plan as always. We had a good set-up for the boat and we won today,' said Al Zaffain afterwards.

Earlier in the day Al Zaffain and Al Marri had recorded the second fastest lap of the day in the race for Emaar Pole Position ahead of tomorrow’s Chinese Grand Prix.

'We have to be very careful. Our plan is to finish first because boat 50 [Mouawad]] is close behind us in the overall standings and we want to win the Championship,' Al Zaffain said of tomorrow’s race.

'I think the conditions are likely to be the same tomorrow – rough and windy – but I think it may be raining. If it’s raining that will reduce the wind so it should be nice,' he added.

Starting in Pole Position tomorrow will be the Skydive Dubai team of Jay Price and Sultan Al Dhaheri, while the Six team of Tomaso Polli and Luca Nicolini will be in third spot.

Claiming the all-important fourth spot for the first gate was the Victory Team boat. But, in a moment reminiscent of the last race in Arona, Italy, the duo of Talib Al Sayed and Salem Al Adidi flipped their boat on their seventh lap, meaning the Victory Team are in a race against time to get the boat in shape to race by tomorrow.

Manager for the Victory Team, Ragesh Elayadeth confirmed that the pilots of the flipped boat were unharmed, and also pointed out that his team have been in similar situations before, where they have worked through the night to repair a boat, which has then gone on to win the race the next day. He added that the team were 95 per cent sure to be on the water tomorrow.

The final Official Practice is scheduled for 11am local time tomorrow, with the Chinese Grand Prix taking place at 2.30pm.