Dubai: Arif Al Zafein and Nader Bin Hindi came up with yet another perfect race as Victory Team made it three out of three at the end of the Lugano Grand Prix – the third round of the 2016 UIM XCAT World Series in Switzerland late on Sunday.
Held on the picturesque shores of Lake Lugano, the Victory Team duo found their way past three boats at the start and never looked behind as they completed a dominant performance at the end of the 17-lap race.
Yesterday’s win further cemented Victory Team’s dominant position at the top of the overall standings while also making it a hat-trick of wins for the Dubai-based duo who are in fact uninterrupted world champions in this discipline of powerboat racing every year since 2012.
The win also completed a double triumph for Victory Team as Al Zafein and Bin Hindi had outmuscled Team Australia in Saturday’s Dubai Duty Free Speed Cat Run, earning them further valuable bonus points at the top of the table.
Marco Borradori, who has been the Mayor of Lugano since 2013, was joined by UIM President Rafaelle Chiulli and Dubai International Marine Club board members Eisa Bin Kharbash and Ali Bin Hindi at the presentation of trophies at the end of the race.
It was Friday’s pole position that set the tone of things for yesterday’s race as Victory Team was pushed into fourth for the start. But there was nothing stopping the defending four-time world champions as as they found a vital gap at the green flag and powered to the front of the pack, never to look behind after that.
After establishing a lead of nine seconds from Team Abu Dhabi, Victory Team went in for two of their three mandatory long laps midway through the race to further improve on the lead.
“We knew that everything depended on a quick start and we were waiting for that crucial moment. Both of us [Al Zafein and Bin Hindi] have enough experience to make things happen and then dictate from the top,” Al Zafein told Gulf News.
“Once we were clear from the start, we had the power and a clear path before us to go and finish our third win of the season. After this will be a long break for all teams, but we will put in the hours and do further testing on the engines once we return to Dubai to consolidate our position for the remainder of the season,” the Victory Team throttleman promised.
Teams will now take a length break before the fourth round of the 2016 UIM XCAT World Series is held in South Korea in the last week of September.
Provisional positions at the end of the Lugano Grand Prix – the third race of the 2016 UIM XCAT World Series held on Sunday: 1. Victory Team (Arif Al Zafein/Nader Bin Hindi); 2. Gold Coast Australia (Tom Barry-Cotter/Ross Willaton); 3. Team Abu Dhabi (Rashid Al Tayer/Faleh Al Mansouri); 4. Team Australia (Pal Virik Nielsen/Brett Luhrmann); 5. Dubai 33 (Salem Al Adid/Eisa Al Ali); 6. Swecat Racing (Mikael Bengtsson/Erik Stark); 7. New Star (Shaun Torrente/Mikhail Kutishev); 8. Fujairah Team (Serafino Barlesi/Alessandro Barone); 9. Carpisa Yamamay (Alfredo Almato/Diego Testa); 10.T-Bone Station (Giovanni Carpitella/Luca Formilli Fendi). Did not finish: Six (Matteo Nicolini/Tomaso Polli); Spirit of France (Francois Pinelli/Saul Bubacco); Raheeb (Abdul Latif Al Omani/Khalid Burabee).
