Victory’s
Arif Al Zafeen and Nadir bin Hendi took a giant step towards retaining
their European title after an imperious flag-to-finish win in race 1 of
the Italian Grand Prix.
Leading
from the start the defending Champions backed their pole position
status to take their 24th career wins and their third of the season to
extend their lead in the World Championship standings to 16 points over
Spirit of Qatar 96, completing the 12 lap, 52,66Nm race in 34mins
5.39secs at an average speed of 171.65km/h.
But
crucially, today’s flawless drive by Al Zafeen and Bin Hendi turns a
five point deficit in the European Championship into a six points
advantage - again over Spirit of Qatar 96, with Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor
Al-Thani and Steve Curtis finishing in a disappointing fourth place.
Ali
Al Neama and Matteo Nicolini gave the Qatari Team something to
celebrate, taking their third podium and best result of the season,
bringing Spirit of Qatar 95 home in second place, with Team Abu Dhabi’s
Ahmed Al Hameli and Majed Al Mansoori producing yet another impressive
performance to finish third and complete a Middle East sweep of the
podium.
Nicolini’s second place
was also some consolation for the Italian fans who watched as first
Fendi Racing failed to appear on the start line and then saw Poliform
limp out of the race after just three laps.
With
the race leaders disappearing into the distance, widening the gap from
15 seconds at the end of lap 3 to 40 seconds by race finish, the Spirit
of Qatar crew had to keep one eye on Team Abu Dhabi who maintained a
relentless pursuit but were unable to close down their Middle East
rivals finishing 10 seconds adrift, with Al Hameli taking his second
podium from three starts in Class 1 and Mansoori his first.
Belgium’s
Frank Hemelaer marked his Class 1 debut alongside Luca Nicolini in
FA.RO. ACCIAI moving up from eighth at the end of the first lap to
finish in a very credible fifth place for Team D’Alessio-Scam on their
season-entry into the Championship. Relekta came out on top winning the
battle of the Norwegian outfits, finishing in sixth place after Welmax
retired on lap five.
ITALIAN GRAND PRIX, RACE 1 - results
1. 3 Victory - A Al Zafeen (UAE) / N Bin Hendi (UAE) 00.34.05,39
2. 95 Spirit of Qatar - A Al Neama (QAT) / M Nicolini (ITA) + 00.41,00
3. 5 Team Abu Dhabi - A Al Hameli (UAE) / M Al Mansoori (UAE) + 00.51,25
4. 96 Spirit of Qatar - H Al Thani (QAT) / S Curtis (ENG) + 01.07,87
5. 23 FA.RO. ACCIAI - F Hemelaer (BEL) / L Nicolini (ITA) + 1 LAP
6. 91 Relekta - U Isik (TUR) / C Zaborowski (NOR) + 1 LAP
7. 90 Welmax – B Jacobsen (NOR) / K Olsen (NOR) DNF
8. 74 Poliform - G Cappellini (MON) / G Montavoci (ITA) DNF
10 Fendi Racing - L Formilli Fendi (ITA) / G Carpitella (ITA) DNS
18 MITI Tech Power – S Sardelli (ITA) / N Giorgi (ITA) DNS
RACE 2
Victory’s
Arif Al Zafeen and Nadir bin Hendi completed the perfect weekend
winning race 2 of the Italian Grand Prix to clinch the 2011 Class 1
European Championship in an incident-filled afternoon which saw Italians
Luca Formilli Fendi and Giovanni Carpitella crash out.
It
was another masterful display by the Victory pairing to mark their 25th
career wins and retain their title, dominating from the start and going
50 seconds clear of Team Abu Dhabi and a distant chasing pack when the
race was red flagged and bringing out the pace boat after Fendi Racing’s
day ended in dramatic fashion, hooking and then rolling on lap seven,
both Fendi and Carpitella emerging from the escape hatch in the upturned
hull unhurt.
The pace boat led
the fleet round for two laps before releasing them, with Al Zafeen and
bin Hendi, asked to do it all again, and they did, immediately opening
up a commanding lead and going on to take their fourth win of the year
by over 20 seconds, completing the 16-lap, 70.92Nm race in 54mins
38.70secs.
The laps under the
pace boat took their toll on Team Abu Dhabi, with yesterday’s third
placed finishers Ahmed Al Hameli and Majed Al Mansoori pulling to the
inside of the circuit and retiring from the race with technical
problems.
For the
tens-of-thousands of Italian powerboat fans who crammed into Cernobbio
and lined the shores of Lake Como, the disappointment of seeing Fendi
Racing’s exit soon changed when Poliform’s Guido Cappellini – who
considers the lake to be his! – and Giampaolo Montavoci emerged after
the restart in second place followed by Spirit of Qatar 96, Welmax and
Spirit of Qatar 95 – both the Qatar outfits seeing their European title
hopes fading fast.
After the
frustrations of yesterday’s retirement it was an impressive turnaround
by the all-Italian outfit, whose second place was never under pressure,
taking their best result of the year and moving into fourth place in the
overall Championship standings.
For
the Spirit of Qatar Team it was an afternoon of mixed emotions, with
Ali Al Neama and Matteo Nicolini enjoying an eventful afternoon, running
in second spot for the opening three laps but were down in sixth place
when the race was red flagged, then eventually clawing their way back up
to third, passing their teammates Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor Al Thani and
Steve Curtis on lap 11 - Welmax passed by both a lap earlier.
Whilst
a good result for Al Neama and Nicolini, their second race podium of
the weekend enough to move them into the runners-up spot in the European
Championship, but at the expense of Sheikh Hassan and Curtis, who
described it as ‘just one of those weekends when nothing went their way’
again missing out on the podium finishing in fourth place.
FA.RO.
ACCIAI completed a more than satisfactory weekend on the team’s entry
into the Championship, with the new partnership of Frank Hemelaer and
Luca Nicolini again finishing well up in the points in fifth place.
Welmax’s Bjorge Jacobsen and Kurt Olsen turned the tables on their
Norwegian rivals to finish in sixth, ahead of Relekta’s Ugur Isik and
Christian Zaborowski.
Today’s win
for Al Zafeen and bin Hendi moves them into a commanding position in
the World Championship standings and puts them 29-points clear of Spirit
of Qatar 96 with the final Grand Prix of the season in Dubai on 8-10
December.
With 44 points on offer
in Dubai the defending World Champions need just 15 as they bid to
become the first Victory pairing to win the Grand slam of all four
titles in a single season, the feat only ever achieved by Spirit Of
Norway’s Bjorn Rune Gjelsten and Steve Curtis in 2003 and 2006.
ITALIAN GRAND PRIX, RACE 2 - results
1. 3 Victory - A Al Zafeen (UAE) / N Bin Hendi (UAE) 00.54.38,70
2. 74 Poliform - G Cappellini (MON) / G Montavoci (ITA) + 00.20,25
3. 95 Spirit of Qatar - A Al Neama (QAT) / M Nicolini (ITA) + 00.39,34
4. 96 Spirit of Qatar - H Al Thani (QAT) / S Curtis (ENG) + 00.48,76
5. 23 FA.RO. ACCIAI - F Hemelaer (BEL) / L Nicolini (ITA) + 02.13,28
6. 90 Welmax – B Jacobsen (NOR) / K Olsen (NOR) + 05.57,59
7. 91 Relekta - U Isik (TUR) / C Zaborowski (NOR) + 1 LAP
8. 5 Team Abu Dhabi - A Al Hameli (UAE) / M Al Mansoori (UAE) DNF
9. 10 Fendi Racing - L Formilli Fendi (ITA) / G Carpitella (ITA) DNF
18 MITI Tech Power - S Sardelli (ITA) / N Giorgi (ITA) DNS
UIM CLASS 1 WORLD POWERBOAT CHAMPIONSHIP - after race 5
1. 3 Victory - 103pts
2. 96 Spirit of Qatar - 74pts
3. 95 Spirit of Qatar - 66pts
4. 74 Poliform - 40pts
5. 5 Team Abu Dhabi - 38pts
6. 91 Relekta - 23pts
7= 10 Fendi Racing - 19pts
7= 90 Welmax - 19pts
9. 23 FA.RO. ACCIAI - 14pts
10. 50 Parsonage Racing - 8pts
11. 69 ferskfisken.no - 5 pts
12. 18 MITI Tech Power - 4pts
EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP - after race 3
1. 3 Victory - 55pts
2. 95 Spirit of Qatar - 39pts
3. 96 Spirit of Qatar - 38pts
4. 74 Poliform - 24pts
5. FA.RO. ACCIAI - 14pts
6. 91 Relekta - 13pts
7= 5 Team Abu Dhabi - 12pts
7= 90 Welmax - 12pts
9. 69 ferskfisken.no - 5 pts
10= 10 Fendi Racing - 0pts
10= 50 Parsonage Racing - 0pts
10= 18 MITI Tech Power - 0pts
Hiç yorum yok:
Yorum Gönder