Class 1 - Victory Dominate Montenegro With One Two Finish

The Dubai Victory Team maintained their 100 per cent start to the season as Mohammed Al Marri and Nadir Bin Hendi led home a Victory one-two in the Hypo Group Montenegrin Grand Prix in Budva. Victory 1 dominated the 23-lap, 93.83Nm race from start to finish too win comfortably from team-mates Victory 7, with Middle East rivals, taking third place in Qatar 95. Today’s result was a remarkable return to racing for the 2001 World and 2005 Middle East Champion, Al Marri. Out of the sport for more than a year, the 46 year-old driver stepped out of retirement to replace the injured Arif Al Zafeen the defending World Champion, and produced a vintage performance, celebrating his 56th Class 1 start with the tenth win of his career.

The Qatar 96 crew, desperate to halt Victory’s early charge in the defence of their title, lost out in the race to the first turn buoy and trailed the two Dubai boats for the first four laps before pulling ahead of Victory 7 on lap five, but a blown engine on lap 20 put paid to any late charge by the Qatari-British combination, who limped home in sixth place. As Qatari hopes crumbled, Victory 7 regained the second place they had enjoyed for the first four laps, after a blistering start saw them at the head of the field. For the Qatar Team there was some consolation to ease the disappointment, with Qatar 95 taking their first podium of the season. Despite a technical problem early in the race, Forest & Suardi 8 hit their target of finishing in the points to take fifth place, for the second race in a row, with Roscioli Hotels Roma’s Domenico Cirilli and Sergio Carrasco, making his Class 1 debut, finishing seventh. But there was disappointment for SeveneleveN, who had to sit out the race after an engine problem in the morning’s practice session.

HYPO GROUP MONTENEGRIN GRAND PRIX - RESULT

1. Victory 1 - M Al Marri (UAE) / N Bin Hendi (UAE) – 20pts

2. Victory 7 - A Al Mehairbi (UAE) / JM Sanchez (France) – 15pts

3. Qatar 95 - A Al-Sulaiti (Qatar) / M Nicolini (Italy) – 12pts

4. Jotun 90 - B Jacobsen (Norway) / J Tandberg (Norway) – 9pts

5. Foresti & Suardi 8 - K Selmer (Norway) / G Montavoci (Italy) – 7pts

6. Qatar 96 - H Al-Thani (Qatar) / S Curtis (England) – 5pts

7. Roscioli Hotels Roma 88 - S Carrasco (Spain) / D Cirilli (Spain) – 4pts

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

CLASS 1 WORLD POWERBOAT CHAMPIONSHIP - after round 2 of 8

1. Victory 1 - M Al Marri (UAE) / N Bin Hendi (UAE) – 44pts

2. Victory 7 - A Al Mehairbi (UAE) / JM Sanchez (France) – 31pts

3. Qatar 95 - A Al-Sulaiti (Qatar) / Nicolini (Italy) – 25pts

4. Qatar 96 - H Al-Thani (Qatar) / S Curtis (England) – 20pts

5. Foresti & Suardi 8 - K Selmer (Norway) / G Montavoci (Italy) – 18pts

6. Jotun 90 - B Jacobsen (Norway) / J Tandberg (Norway) – 13pts

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

8= Negotiator 50 - B Eker (Norway) / C Parsonage (England) – 4pts

8=Roscioli Hotels Roma 88 - S Carrasco (Spain) / D Cirilli (Spain) – 4pts

(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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