UIM Nations Cup - Strong winds whip up the seas
by UIM Nations Cup on 13 Mar 2014
Roman Vandyshev of Team Belarus in action at the UIM Nations Cup World Series 2014
Massimo Ciuchi
http://www.f1h2o.com/
For the second consecutive day, poor weather conditions disrupted the UIM Nations Cup racing programme, forcing race officials to postpone today’s scheduled practice session and two sprint races, which will now take place tomorrow (Thursday 13).
The strong winds blowing in from the desert and across Doha Bay with gusts up to 30mph whipped up the seas making any action on the water impossible. Teams and officials waited it out hoping the weather would ease, eventually calling time at 15.00hrs and rescheduling. 'It is very frustrating for everyone but it is simply too rough to race and safety is our first priority,' said UIM Commissioner Luis Ribeiro. 'With the cooperation and support of everyone involved with Nations Cup, the F1H2O Championship which gets underway tomorrow, and the Qatar Marine Sports Federation we have managed to move the timetable around and will run the races in the morning.'
Team Italy will line up for what promises to be a thrilling climax to the Nations Cup season-opener with a seven point advantage over last year’s winners in Qatar, Team Russia, with newcomers Belarus a further point adrift in third.
Italy’s Match Race winner Stefano Paoletti will start the first of the two 24-lap sprint races in pole position with Russia’s Kostantin Ustinov and Belarus’ Roman Vandyshev on his outside.
Starting line-up – sprint race 1
1. S Paoletti-Italy
2. K Ustinov-Russia
3. R Vandyshev-Belarus
4. M Gambi-Italy
5. K Al Kuwari-Qatar
6. A Ovchinnikov-Belarus
7. A Panyushkin-Russia
8. M Bin Kadri-Malaysia
9. A Gholam-Qatar
10. A Bin Kadri-Malaysia – 11
Reschedule timetable:
Thursday, 13 March
09.00 – 09.20: Sprint Race 1
10.00 – 10.20 Sprint Race 2
Event website:
click here
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