UIM Class 1 - Team Abu Dhabi celebrate home win

by UIM Class One on 26 Nov 2010 UIM Class 1 - Team Abu Dhabi's Rashed Al Tayer and John Tomlinson are celebrating a famous victory after winning race 1 of their home Grand Prix, ahead of Victory 2010's Mohammed Al Marri and Giorgio Manuzzi, with Giovanni Carpitella and Class 1 debutant Luca Fendi completing the podium in Negotiator.

But there was disappointment for World Champions Arif Al Zafeen and Nadir Bin Hendi in Fazza, who, having led from the first corner saw their race lead disappear on lap 10 after pulling off the course with an electrical problem.

For Al Tayer and Tomlinson their first win together was rich reward for pushing the World Champions hard from the start, narrowly failing to overhaul them to lead at the end of lap one. After taking all their long-laps early and trading places with Skydive Dubai and Victory 2010 they moved back into second place on lap seven, taking the lead on lap 10 and going on to take the victory, completing the 12 lap, 53.29Nm course in 31mins 44.59secs at an average speed of 179.19kmh. 'It is a great result for the team and I am happy that we were able to compete well with Fazza,' said a delighted Rashed Al Tayer.'

Second place for Mohammed Al Marri and Giorgio Manuzzi in their first race together and in the new Victory designed boat on its first competitive outing, was some consolation for the team, after seeing Skydive Dubai's Abdullah Al Mehairbi and Talib Al Sayed retire on lap 7 with engine problems and a race win disappear three laps later. 'I think to finish second in a new boat with a new driver is very good and more than we had hoped for,' said double World Champion Mohammed Al Marri.

There was also an impressive performance by Class 1 newcomer Luca Fendi, racing alongside fellow-Italian Giovanni Carpitella, making-up four places from their start position to bring Negotiator home in third place. 'It's a nice surprise. We made a good start and maybe could have pushed harder to get ahead of Victory 2010 at the beginning. Luca drove very well and understands more lap-by-lap how the boat handles.'

Relekta's Paul Gaiser and Christian Zaborowski produced their best result of the season, improving on their sixth position in qualifying, to take fourth place to finish ahead of Nicola Giorgi and another Class 1 newcomer, Sandro Sardelli, in GiorgiOffshore. Fazza and Skydive Dubai were classified in seventh and eighth places, with GSG Ceramic Design failing to make the start of the race due to engine problems.

Any hopes of a possible pole and race win double for pole-sitters Kolbjorn Selmer and Jorn Tandberg, who briefly led the race from the start flag, ended early on lap 2, retiring with oil pressure problems after all but turning Welmax over on the run to the first corner.

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Race 1 - results
1. Team Abu Dhabi - R Al Tayer (UAE) / J Tomlinson (USA) 00.31.44,59
2. Victory 2010 - G Manuzzi (SMR) / A Al Marri (UAE) + 00.37,94
3. Negotiator - L Formilli Fendi (ITA) / G Carpitella (ITA) + 01.07,41
4. Relekta - P Gaiser (BRA) / C Zaborowski (NOR) + 01.57,48
5. GiorgiOffshore - S Sardelli (ITA) / N Giorgi (ITA) + 1 lap
6. Fazza - A Al Zafeen (UAE) / N Bin Hendi (UAE) + 2 laps
7. Skydive Dubai - A Al Mehairbi (UAE) / T Al Sayed (UAE) + 5 laps
8. Welmax - K Selmer (NOR) / J Tandberg (NOR) dnf
9. GSG Ceramic Design - G Cappellini (ITA) / G Montavoci (ITA) dns

UIM Class 1 World Powerboat Championship - after race 9 of 12
1. Fazza - 148pts 2. Skydive Dubai - 114pts 3. Negotiator - 94pts 4. GSG Ceramic Design - 72pts 5. Welmax - 41pts 6. GiorgiOffshore - 31pts 7= Relekta - 29pts 7= Team Abu Dhabi - 29pts 9. Victory 2010 - 15pts 10. Foresti & Suardi - SCAM - 11pts 11. Welmax Alianza - 10pts

Middle East Championship - after race 1 of 4

1. Team Abu Dhabi - 20pts 2. Victory 2010 - 15pts 3. Negotiator - 12pts 4. Relekta - 9pts 5. GiorgiOffshore - 7pts 6. Fazza - 5pts 7. Skydive Dubai - 4pts 8= Welmax - 0pts 8= GSG Ceramic Design - 0pts

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