Class 1 - Victory 1 Shines In Moscow

Mohammed Al Marri and Nadir bin Hendi produced the perfect performance to win a dramatic and incident filled Russian Grand Prix, held on Moscow’s Khimki Reservoir and in appalling conditions, maintaining the team’s perfect start to the season and defence of their World and European titles, making it three wins out of three for Victory 1.

After a red flag and an aborted first start, Victory 1’s scratch-pairing and Championship leaders’ showed their superiority and dominated the race to lead from start-to-finish and win by over a minute, to give Mohammed Al Marri – replacing the injured Arif Al Zafeen - his 11th career win and Nadir bin Hendi his third win in a row.

For Qatar 96’s Sheikh Hassan and Steve Curtis, second place was a result they desperately needed after the disappointment in Montenegro, but not the one they wanted, which now leaves them 29 points adrift of the leaders’ in fourth place. However, the outcome may well have been different if not for the coming together with Victory 7 after the restart, which left them trailing in fifth place at the end of the first lap.

Qatar 95 made it a double podium-celebration for the team, their second consecutive third place to stay ahead of the their team-mates in the title race.

For Victory 7, finishing in fourth place, there was frustration and anger, after a broken a propeller on lap seven robbed them and the team of a probable second consecutive one-two finish.

Giampaolo Montavoci and Kolbjorn Selmer maintained their reliable form to secure more points by taking their third consecutive fifth place finish. This keeps them in fifth place overall in the Championship after finishing ahead of Jotun’s unlucky Jorn Tandberg and Inge Brigt Aarbakke, who, after starting from second place on the front row, broke a propeller on lap five when running strongly in third place, which ended any hopes of a podium finish.

RUSSIAN GRAND PRIX - results

1. Victory 1 - M Al Marri (UAE) / N Bin Hendi (UAE) – 00.59.35,15

2. Qatar 96 - H Al-Thani (Qatar) / S Curtis (England) + 01.49,41

3. Qatar 95 - A Al-Sulaiti (Qatar) / M Nicolini (Italy) + 1 lap

4. Victory 7 - A Al Mehairbi (UAE / JM Sanchez (France) + 3 laps

5. Foresti & Suardi 8 - K Selmer (Norway) / G Montavoci (Italy) + 3 laps

6. Jotun 90 - IB Aarbakke (Norway) / J Tandberg (Norway) + 5 laps

7. SeveneleveN 18 - G Manuzzi (Italy) / N Giorgi (Italy) – dnf

8. Roscioli Hotels Roma 88 - S Carrasco (Spain) / D Cirilli (Spain) – dnf

9. Qatar 9 - M Al-Nassr (Qatar) / L Nicolini (Italy) – dnf

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP POSITIONS - after round 3 of 8

1. Victory 1 - M Al Marri (UAE) / N Bin Hendi (UAE) – 64pts

2. Victory 7 - A Al Mehairbi (UAE) / JM Sanchez (France) – 40pts

3. Qatar 95 - A Al-Sulaiti (Qatar) / M Nicolini (Italy) – 37pts

4. Qatar 96 - H Al-Thani (Qatar) / S Curtis (England) – 35pts

5. Foresti & Suardi 8 - K Selmer (Norway) / G Montavoci (Italy) – 25pts

6. Jotun 90 – IB Aarbakke (Norway) / J Tandberg (Norway) – 18pts

7. Roscioli Hotels Roma 88 - S Carrasco (Spain) / D Cirilli (Spain) – 8pts

8. SeveneleveN 18 - G Manuzzi (Italy) / N Giorgi (Italy) – 5pts

9. Negotiator 50 - B Eker (Norway) / C Parsonage (England) – 4pts

10. Qatar 9 - M Al-Nassr (Qatar) / L Nicolini (Italy)

(championship points include bonus points allocated to teams for running engines for two consecutive races - one point, per engine, per race)

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