Team Abu Dhabi’s Rashed Al Tayer and Majed Al Mansoori secured their first ever pole position in the UIM XCAT World Championship on Thursday at the start of a tense three days of racing in China.

Tayer and Mansoori in Abu Dhabi 5 set the fastest qualifying time for the Shanghai Grand Prix when they clocked 2:13.692 on their fifth of ten laps.

They topped the standings comfortably from Tom Barry-Cotter and Ross Willaton in Maritimo (2:14.768) and the Dubai Police pairing of Arif Al Zaffain and Nadir Bin Hendi (2:15.500).

Team Abu Dhabi’s reigning XCAT world champions and current series leaders

Meanwhile, Team Abu Dhabi’s Shaun Torrente and Faleh Al Mansoori retained their overall lead with a battling second place finish in the first of three races.

The defending champions in Abu Dhabi 4 climbed from fourth position at the start to finish runners up to their nearest challengers in this year’s XCAT world title race, the Dubai Police pairing of Zaffain and Hendi.

Team Abu Dhabi’s Rashed Al Tayer and Majed Al Mansoori, who had earlier secured their first ever pole position in the XCAT series, took the third podium place in Abu Dhabi 5 to rise to joint third in the championship.

The result means Torrente and Mansoori carry a nine-point championship lead into Saturday’s second Grand Prix race, with a third to follow on Sunday.

Shanghai Grand Prix qualifying times

1. Abu Dhabi 5 (UAE) Rashed Al Tayer / Majed Al Mansoori   2:13.692
2. Maritimo (AUS) Tom Barry-Cotter / Ross Willaton    2:14.768
3. Dubai Police (UAE) Arif Al Zaffain / Nadir Bin Hendi    2:15.500
4. Abu Dhabi 4 (UAE) Shaun Torrente / Faleh Al Mansoori    2:15.793
5. HPI Racing Team (IT) Rosario Schiano Di Cola / Guiseppe Schiano Di Cola 2:17.664
6. Swecat Racing (SWE) Erik Stark / Sebastian Groth    2: 18.537
7. 222 Offshore (IT/AUS) Giovanni Carpitella / Darren Nicholson   2:18.607
8. Kuwait (KWT) Abdullatif Al Omani / Moustafa Al Dashti   2:19.834
9. New Star Racing (RU) Mikhail Kitashev / Dimitry Vandyshev   2:20.397