Team Abu Dhabi’s Shaun Torrente and Faleh Al Mansoori took a major step towards retaining their title in the UIM XCAT World Championship with victory in a dramatic Dubai Grand Prix on Friday.

The defending champions in Abu Dhabi 4 won the first of this weekend’s two races by 20 seconds from Australians Tom Barry-Cotter and Ross Willaton in Maritimo to regain the lead in the title race from the Dubai Police crew of Arif Al Zaffain and Nadir Bin Hendi, who finished fourth.

Torrente and Mansoori, who began the season with back-to-back victories in Italy, will now look to repeat that feat in Dubai and secure a second successive XCAT world crown by winning the race two on Saturday in what promises to be a spectacular grand finale.

They had an early scare on Friday when one engine stopped, but so did the race soon afterwards when Russia’s Mikhail Kitashev and Dimitry Vandyshev in New Star Racing crashed spectacularly in tough conditions on the first lap.

From the re-start, Torrente and Mansoori had no more problems, and they go into the final day of the season holding a four-point championship lead over Barry-Cotter and Willaton, with Zaffain and Hendi another two points adrift in third position.

Finishing third on the day, a fourth podium finish in a row, Rashed Al Tayer and Majed Al Mansoori in Abu Dhabi 5 were at the centre of some of the most breathtaking action as they went head-to-head with Maritimo for a succession of laps, finally being overtaken on the last after a superb battle.

The Australian crew had earlier clinched the overall pole position world championship by topping qualifying ahead of the two Team Abu Dhabi boats, but the morning’s calm conditions had been replaced by wind and choppy waters by the time the race got under way.

A jubilant Mansouri said at the finish: “We had a problem at the start when one engine stopped.

But after the re-start, we just re-started the engine and got of well into a good position. We had a good long lap strategy thanks to the radio man and the manager and that was very important.”

Torrente said: “We have never had an engine problem like that before. We’re going to check it now but we had a good re-start and from there I just managed the race. It’s still really close in the championship and we’ll just go for the win tomorrow.”

If Shaun Torrente and Faleh Al Mansoori win the Dubai Grand Prix, this would be second title for Team Abu Dhabi as Rashed Al Qemzi crowned his brilliant season in the UIM F2 World Championship with an emphatic home victory in the Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi last week.

 The Team Abu Dhabi driver, already installed as F2 world champion for the second time in three years, led from start to finish to record his fourth Grand Prix triumph of the year with 4.63 seconds to spare from Portugal’s Duarte Benavente, with Lithuanian Edgaras Riabko third.

This success on home waters is the one that means most to Qemzi, particularly as he goes into the record books as the winner of the first ever UIM F2 race staged in the UAE capital.

 The Emirati looked in complete control throughout, resisting Benavente’s challenge to pull away on the first lap, and refusing to be unsettled when the race was interrupted twice in quick succession following crashes by Sweden’s Johan Osterberg and Dutchman Ferdinand Zandbergen.

It has been an outstanding season for Qemzi from his opening round victory in Lithuania in June.

Other victories followed in Italy and Portugal to clinch the title with one round to spare, adding to the Nations Cup and F4-S world championships he secured before his first F2 triumph in 2017. He has benefitted enormously from the vast experience and influence of ten-times former F1H2O champion Guido Cappellini, who has guided Team Abu Dhabi to nine world titles in five years.



Dubai Grand Prix Race 1 results
1. Abu Dhabi 4 (UAE) Shaun Torrente / Faleh Al Mansoori 45.37.81
2. Maritimo (AUS) Tom Barry-Cotter / Ross Willaton45.57.62
3. Abu Dhabi 5 (UAE) Rashed Al Tayer and Majed Al Mansoori46.10.01
4. Dubai Police (UAE) Arif Al Zaffain / Nadir Bin Hendi46.43.89
5. 222 Offshore (IT/AUS) Giovanni Carpitella / Darren Nicholson47.04.90
6. Victory Team (UAE) Salem Al Adidi / Eisa Al Ali47.14.57
7. HPI Racing Team (IT) Rosario Schiano Di Cola / Guiseppe Schiano Di Cola47.33.67
8. De Mitri (IT) Roberto Lo Piano / Marco Di Cosmo46.22.85 + 1 lap