Fujairah: The opening round of the UIM Skydive Dubai XCAT World Powerboat Series is shaping up to be a thriller if the first official practice in Fujairah on Wednesday is anything to go by.
The top seven boats all recorded fastest laps within four seconds of each other, with two of those boats being new entries — Abu Dhabi Team with Rashid Al Tayer and Faleh Al Mansouri fourth fastest in 2 min 38.17 sec, and Tom Barry-Cotter and Pal Virik Nilsen on board Gold Coast Australia coming in sixth in 2:38.92.
The fastest boat on the day was that of defending world champions Fazza, with Arif Al Zafein and Nadir Bin Hindi on board, as they sped around the course in a time of 2:35.04. Their Victory Team teammates, Dubai (Salem Al Adidi and Eisa Al Ali), were hot on their heels with a fastest lap of 2:35.93.
Al Adidi and Al Ali are a new combination in the Dubai boat and team manager Mohammad Al Marri was impressed. “For a first time, they did a great job,” he said.
“We did a week of practice in Dubai and they have done very well to put themselves up there.”
Speaking about the addition of a total of four new teams to the series, Al Marri added: “We are very happy to see all the new teams. This is making us work harder and it’s good to have more competition. We wish them good luck for tomorrow [Thursday] and Friday.”
The Gold Coast boat was unveiled by the Australian city’s mayor Tom Tate in Fujairah on Wednesday morning, as part of the Gold Coast’s commitment to hosting the fifth round of the series in August.
XCAT action will continue on Thursday as the teams battle it out for pole position at 9.30am, followed by the head-to-head Dubai Duty Free Speed Cat Run at 2.30pm. The main event — the Fujairah GP — will take place at 3.30pm on Friday.
