Class 1 World Powerboat Championship - Team Abu Dhabi confirmed

by Class 1 World Powerboat Championship on 21 Feb 2012 Pearl Qatar Grand Prix, the season opener for the Class 1 World Powerboat Championship 2012, is being held in Doha, Qatar from 14th to 17th March. Two of the sport’s most exciting stars, driver Rashed Al Tayer and throttleman Majed Al Mansoori, have been confirmed by Team Abu Dhabi for the event.

The Emirati duo paired twice last year, teaming up for the first time in the BMW Norwegian Grand Prix in Arendal and again at the end of the year in Dubai, grabbing their first podium together in race two, with Team Abu Dhabi finishing fourth overall in the title race.

With Al Tayer side-lined mid-season through injury, Mansoori was joined by F1H2O star Ahmed Al Hameli to finish second in race one at the Italian Grand Prix in Cernobbio.

Al Tayer, 33 from Dubai, stepped up to the top-flight of international powerboat racing to make his Class 1 driving debut in the Brazilian Grand Prix in 2010, taking his first two race wins in Sweden, adding a third in the team’s home Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi.

He has competed in a variety of sports; finishing third in the Aquabike World Championship in 2004, then going on to dominate in Jet Ski competition, winning the Kuwait, Qatar and UAE Championships in 2004 and 2005, retaining his UAE title the following year.

In 2007 he finished third in the F2 Presidents Cup in Abu Dhabi, and in 2009 started competing in the XCAT Middle East Championship.

Mansoori, who was born and lives in Abu Dhabi, is an accomplished racer who has worked his way up through the racing ranks from Jet Ski competition and single-seater racing, competing in the F-4S Eurofin Trophy and the XCat Championship.

UIM Class 1 World Powerboat Championship website