Aussies set for tight racing at first Middle East SailGP event
by Olivia Hogan / Australia SailGP Team 12 Nov 2022 08:57 NZDT
12-13 November 2022
Australia SailGP Team helmed by Tom Slingsby and the fleet sail past the Burj Khalifa and Dubai skyline during a practice session ahead of the Dubai Sail Grand Prix presented by P&O Marinas in Dubai, United Arab Emirates © Ricardo Pinto for SailGP
"It will be exciting for you guys and scary for us!"
Tom Slingsby and the other SailGP drivers are expecting adrenaline fuelled racing and possible carnage after practising on the tight race track ahead of the first ever Dubai Sail Grand Prix presented by P&O Marinas this weekend.
In the press conference, Slingsby commented on the course saying, "It's very tight, and if we get a bit of breeze in this racecourse, which is expected on Sunday, it will be a handful. It will be exciting for you guys but it will be scary for us."
"It's your equivalent of a street track in F1 where whoever gets off cleanly and gets in front will be pretty hard to overtake", added Slingsby.
The current Championship leaderboard sees a condensed mid-fleet line up, with just 10 points separating Denmark in sixth and New Zealand in second. Two-timing defending champion Australia meanwhile remains in first place with 50 points.
Although the Australian's sit at the top of the leaderboard, the team's absence on the winners podium for the past four events hasn't gone unnoticed.
Slingsby defended his team's recent performance saying: "Nothing's been going wrong, it's just a testament to SailGP that it's just getting stronger and stronger. We're still improving and getting better all the time but the other teams have caught up."
"It is weird making the finals and not winning them because we have had a good run for a while but we're still really happy that we're at the top of the scoreboard", Slingsby added.
Racing takes place in Dubai between 22:00-23:30 AEDT today and Sunday. Australian fans can tune in live on Fox Sports and on Kayo in Australia to watch the racing. Kayo are offering fans free access to both the live and replay racing, via its Kayo Freebies offer.