Delma Marine Sweeps to Victory. Win opening round of the new X-Cat Powerboat Series
(Saturday, January 17, 2009)
Photo Caption: Podium
Delma Marine swept to victory in the opening round of the brand-new 2009 X-Cat Series Powerboat Championship held at the Dubai International Marine Club (DIMC) today.
Driven by Rashid Khalifah Al Marri and throttled by Salem Fadhel Al Hamli, the Delma Marine boat ran a calculated race hanging among the top five from the start to ultimately finish ahead of Qatar 94 and PRO Marine.
Khalfan Hareb, Managing Director of the Dubai-based Victory Team and Saeed Hareb, the Managing Director of DIMC and CEO of Mina Seyahi Dubai, presented the trophies to the top three winners after the race.
“We have seen the tremendous success of this class of powerboat racing. Till last year there were just 10 boats and now we have 22 boats with many more wanting to join later during the series,” remarked Saeed Hareb.
“Our aim is to see this class of racing grow, and it will grow,” he confided.
Though none of the boats had any prior experience in this class of powerboat racing, the inaugural round had its fair share of excitement as drivers from 15 different countries took to the Mina Seyahi waters off DIMC.
Starting from Pole Position, Delma Marine eased down on their speed allowing Qatar 94 and Abu Dhabi Racing Team 1 to overtake, while the Victory Team boat ‘Fazza’ with Arif Al Zafeen and Nader Bin Hendi stuck around in close fourth.
The Qatar team seemed to be heading for an outright win till Al Marri and Al Hamli made a push as they approached the tenth lap to take the lead leaving the rest of the field in pursuit.
“Our first priority was to run a safe race and that was the reason why we chose to stay behind for a while after the start,” Al Marri explained.
“These were perfect sailing conditions, so once the crowd of boats had cleared then we went on overtaking the boats one by one,” he said.
The new X-Cat World Powerboat Series has a total prize fund of Dhs 1.6 million and is organized by the UAE Marine Sports Federation with sponsorship and cooperation from DIMC and the Abu Dhabi International Marine Sports Club (ADIMSC) under the aegis of the World Professional Powerboat Association (WPPA). The second round of this six-round series will be held at the ADIMSC on January 23.
Results of the 2009 X-Cat World Powerboat Series held at the Dubai International Marine Club today:
1. Delma Marine (Rashid Al Merri/Salem Fadhil Al Hamli)
2. Qatar 94 (Khalid Al Shamlan/Mohammad Al Nasser)
3. PRO Marine (Paul Wittier/Gary Ballough)
4. La Vida Loca (Sergio Mora Carrasco/Giovanni Carpitella)
5. Kingfisher (Gavin Parsonage/Ian Blacker)
6. Fazza (Arif Al Zafein/Nadir Bin Hendi)
7. Servizi Offshore (Christian Rivolta/Serafino Barlesi)
8. Wind of Rome (Fabio Bertolacci/Roberto Lopiano)
9. Raymond Sport (Khamis Al Qubaisi/Mizanur Rahman)
10. Abu Dhabi Racing Team 1 (Ahmad Ali Jaber Al Hamli/Rashid Jaber Al Hamli)
11. Spirit of UAE (Ahmed Al Suwaidi/Mohammed Jubara Al Marrar)
12. Cosa Nostra (Alex Barone/Francois Pinelli)
13. Raheeb (Abdullatif Mohammed Al Omani/Jasem Hamad Al Dkaheel)
14. Resurrection (Amedeo Mignogna/Alfredo Amato)
15. Al Quoz (Marwan Ali Al Muhairi/Ahmed Suhail Khalfan)
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