Team AD’s Qemzi extends F2 World C’ship lead as Hagin wins

Team Abu Dhabi’s Rashed Al Qemzi extended his lead in the 2019 UIM F2 World Championship with a second place finish in Sunday’s Grand Prix of Norway which brought a first series victory for German Stefan Hagin.

The result gives Al Qemzi a 13-point advantage in the race for the F2 title which he won in 2017, and he was joined on the podium by Abu Dhabi team-mate Rashed Al Tayer thanks to a battling performance to finish third in Tønsberg.

After his opening round victory in Lithuania and his second successive pole position, Al Qemzi had high hopes of another win, although he will be content to have grown his lead from Sweden’s Daniel Segenmark who finished fifth in Norway.

Al Qemzi’s victory hopes might have been over even before a lap had been completed as an apparent mechanical issue left him struggling to leave the start, with the majority of the other 17 boats surging away from him.

But the Emirati driver made a superb recovery, rapidly climbing to second behind Hagin on the first lap and he was piling the pressure on the German when American Brent Dillard crashed to bring a yellow flag on lap 14.

Dillard’s exit saw Al Tayer, who had started in seventh place, move into third, and after the restart, despite Al Qemzi’s efforts to catch Hagin, the top three remain unchanged all the way to the finish.

Meanwhile, Dubai Maritime City Authority (DMCA) recently concluded a meeting of the Maritime Advisory Committee.

The meeting, which was attended by maritime stakeholders from both the public and private sectors, included key discussions on how to provide full support in the ongoing efforts to maintain the highest global maritime safety standards in Dubai’s territorial waters while also placing strong focus on the move to enhance readiness and responsiveness of newer maritime facilities.

The meeting reflects the DMCA’s continued commitment towards strengthening cooperation and coordination in establishing the foundations of maritime safety as a top priority and a key pillar for improving the competitiveness of the local maritime cluster.

Captain Khamis Weld Ghumail, Director of Maritime Traffic Management at DMCA, emphasized on the importance of the meeting as it serves as an ideal platform for strengthening coordination and cooperation between the government and private sectors, particularly in the move to elevate technical and technological readiness of maritime safety in accordance with federal and local laws and regulations.

He reaffirmed the DMCA’s commitment towards ensuring that maritime operations are managed in accordance with the highest standards of professional safety and global best practices—resulting in a safe, sustainable, and diverse marine cluster in Dubai that is globally competitive and attractive. Weld Ghumail also expressed the DMCA’s support for the Maritime Advisory Committee in their efforts to review and update search and rescue procedures in local territorial waters, which is part of the move to consolidate Dubai’s leading position as one of the best maritime capitals in the world.

“The meeting of the Maritime Advisory Committee enabled us to identify important preparations of the maritime facilities while reviewing and adopting the tasks of the Maritime Safety Committee.

“We were also able to tackle ways on how to further develop search and rescue procedures within the territorial waters of Dubai.

“These meetings represent part of our continuing efforts to ensure the highest levels of maritime safety based on solid foundations of innovation, technology and efficiency under the supervision of qualified human personnel—all directed in achieving an integrated marine sector that is renewable, sustainable and has the ability to drive economic diversification in the UAE.

“We have the responsibility to strengthen fruitful cooperation with the government and private sectors to ensure the integration of maritime safety, safe navigation and operational efficiency along local coasts, thereby enhancing Dubai’s competitive potential and consolidating the competitiveness, attractiveness and inclusiveness of the components of the maritime cluster, which has become one of the best in the world,” he added.