Fujairah: Defending champions Fazza, with Aref Al Zafein and Nader Bin Hindi on board, will start from the front at Friday’s Fujairah Grand Prix after recording the fastest lap in the race for pole position in the UIM Skydive Dubai XCAT Powerboat Series event here on Thursday morning.
Having claimed a clean sweep of titles last year, the duo will aim to get the new 2015 season off to a perfect start on Friday.
Looking as solid as ever, Fazza completed the course in 2min 28.12sec to leave the remainder of the pack behind them.
The team that made their XCAT debut in Fujairah last year, T-bone Station, will start in second after recording a time of 2:30.18.
T-bone Station’s Luca Fendi is unable to be in Fujairah this weekend so Giovanni Carpitella is racing with Ahmad Al Hameli.
“Giovanni is more than a brother, he’s like a father to me. We raced together in former series some years ago and we get along well,” said Al Hameli.
“But the boat was much different. For me, this weekend is the first time on this very boat so I will have to adapt to the different size, weight balance and set-up.”
Despite losing out on spot in the pole position run, Italian Carpitella remained optimistic. “We went out with loads of fuel, the set-up was good, and we started with good times aiming to stay in the first four,” he said. “But the wind changed direction, so we did a quick change of set-up and went out again, lighter [with less fuel] but not much quicker as the wind was rising.
“We’re two seconds off Fazza’s time, so it will be difficult to fill the gap as they have a perfect package. But we will give it our best.”
Also looking good is the Dubai team of Salem Al Adidi and Eisa Al Ali, who will start in third after recording a quickest lap of 2:30.42, while the Yacht duo of Francois Pinelli and Saul Bubacco will start in fourth after an effort of 2:31.67.
Entry for the general public is free, with the Fujairah Grand Prix to be flagged off at 3.30pm.
