Class 1 - Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Race 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.

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. 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.

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

Race 2

Defending World Champions Arif Al Zafeen and Nadir Bin Hendi produced a Championship winning drive to clinch a tenth World title for Dubai's Victory Team, winning a dramatic and incident filled race 2 of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, with two separate incidents involving Victory 2010 and a collision between Skydive Dubai and Negotiator, forcing race officials to immediately red flag the race and call for a restart. Second place went to Welmax's Kolbjorn Selmer and Jorn Tandberg after a titanic battle for podium honours with their Norwegian rivals Relekta, with Paul Gaiser and Christian Zaborowski producing an outstanding performance to take their first podium of the year. The drama unfolded at the first corner when race leader's Mohammed Al Marri and Giorgio Manuzzi spun-out and then rolled Victory 2010, with both pilots emerging unscathed from the upturned hull.

The high-impact coming together between Abdullah Al Meharibi and Talib Al Sayed in Skydive Dubai and Italians Luca Fendi and Giovanii Carpitella in Negotiator, that sidelined both boats, happened almost immediately. From the restart the World Champions were in a class of their own, emerging from the outside start-leg with Fazza out front and comfortably clear of the chasing pack, with Al Zafeen and Bin Hendi going on to take their 19th career wins, completing the shortened 12-lap race in 30mins 26.42secs.

Behind the race leader's a titanic three-way race-long fight for the remaining two podium places was played out with just seconds separating Relekta, Team Abu Dhabi and Welmax, with Welmax coming through to take second place from Relekta on the penultimate-lap. Relekta's first podium of the season was the result of an outstanding drive by Paul Gaiser and Christian Zaborowski who heroically held off their challengers for ten laps before finally conceding second spot. For race 1 winner's, Team Abu Dhabi, it was a case of the podium that got away from them after Rahed Al Tayer and John Tomlinson were given a penalty long-lap for missing a turn buoy at the end of lap six, dropping them to fourth place, with GiorgiOffshore's Sandro Sardelli and Nicola Giorgi completing a solid points scoring weekend finishing fifth, whilst an already frustrating weekend for Guido Cappellini and Giampaolo Montavoci in GSG Ceramic Design ended with them stopping just minutes after the restart. With their third World titles already secured Arif Al Zafeen and Nadir Bin Hendi will now turn their attentions to trying to overhaul Team Abu Dhabi in the battle for the Middle East Championship in the final Grand Prix of the season in Dubai, 9-11 December.
ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX, RACE 2 - results
1. Fazza - A Al Zafeen (UAE) / N Bin Hendi (UAE) 00.30.26,42

2. Welmax - K Selmer (NOR) / J Tandberg (NOR) + 00.24,62

3. Relekta - P Gaiser (BRA) / C Zaborowski (NOR) + 00.43,72

4. Team Abu Dhabi - R Al Tayer (UAE) / J Tomlinson (USA) + 00.54,48

5. GiorgiOffshore - S Sardelli (ITA) / N Giorgi (ITA) + 01.47,45

6. GSG Ceramic Design - G Cappellini (ITA) / G Montavoci (ITA) dnf

Skydive Dubai - A Al Mehairbi (UAE) / T Al Sayed (UAE) dns

Victory 2010 - G Manuzzi (SMR) / A Al Marri (UAE) dns

Negotiator - L Formilli Fendi (ITA) / G Carpitella (ITA) dns
UIM CLASS 1 WORLD POWERBOAT CHAMPIONSHIP - after race 10 of 12
1. Fazza - 172pts

2. Skydive Dubai - 114pts

3. Negotiator - 98pts

4. GSG Ceramic Design - 72pts

5. Welmax - 56pts

6. Relekta - 43pts

7. Team Abu Dhabi - 42pts

8. GiorgiOffshore - 38pts

9. Victory 2010 - 15pts

10. Foresti & Suardi - SCAM - 11pts

11. Welmax Alianza - 10pts
MIDDLE EAST CHAMPIONSHIP - after race 2 of 4
1. Team Abu Dhabi - 29pts

2. Fazza - 25pts

3. Relekta - 21pts

4= Victory 2010 - 15pts

4= Welmax - 15pts

6. GiorgiOffshore - 14pts

7. Negotiator - 12pts

8. Skydive Dubai - 4pts

9. GSG Ceramic Design - 0pts

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