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Victory Team do it again at Dubai GP
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15 April 2016 – Another week, another win for the Victory Team. Arif Al Zaffain and Nadir bin Hendi continued their dominance of the 2016 UIM XCAT World Series with victory at the second round – the Dubai GP this afternoon. While they didn’t head to the front from the start, an almost perfect long lap strategy saw the pair taking the lead in the ninth lap and eventually powering to a 17-second win over second-placed Abu Dhabi Team 5. It had been Abu Dhabi 5’s Rashed Al Tayer and Faleh Al Mansoori who powered into the lead after a sensational start from the second gate. But the duo just couldn’t build up enough of a lead to keep in front of the high-flying Victory Team who simply blew any opposition away. The battle for third spot was eventually where all the action was with Swecat, Gold Coast Australia (Tom Barry-Cotter and Ross Willaton) and Dubai 33 (Salem Al Adidi and Eisa Al Ali) all battling it out for the final podium spot. But it was the Swedish Swecat team of Mikael Bengtsson and Erik Stark who finally took it with Dubai 33 struggling with their power steering for the final three laps and Gold Coast losing some power in one of their engines. Speaking after the race, Victory Team’s manager Ragesh Elayadeth said: “It was exciting. We know our capacity, we know our capabilities so we kept racing and we planned a strategy – how to overtake them [Abu Dhabi Team 5]. We didn’t want to take a risk on the race course so we kept racing and we applied our long lap strategy and came out in front of them. “You have to have a good driver, you have to have a good set-up and you have to have a good strategy also, so everything worked well and we knew we could overtake them somewhere in the middle of the race.” Asked if the drivers had been at all nervous when they spent the first part of the race in second spot, Elayadeth added: “Arif and Nadir are the masters. There’s no other word to describe them. They know what to do. There were no nerves at all. They keep calm, they know when to go for the long laps and when to put pressure on. “It’s because they are confident in themselves – they are the best drivers in the world at the moment. And they’re confident in their boat and in their team so they know they can be number one.” Abu Dhabi Team 5’s Al Tayer was thrilled with their performance after the disappointment of not finishing last weekend’s race, but said a few errors had cost them. “Our start was amazing – we gave everything and found ourselves in front,” he said. “It was on one of the long laps that we made a mistake though driving into the sun and had a big jump on one of the waves and lost a lot of speed there.” As for Swecat, Bengtsson was particularly happy with claiming a podium spot for the second consecutive week. “It was very exciting – when we had maybe five laps left we had the Dubai boat really close and we thought they had one long lap to go. But then when it was three, then two to go – we discovered they were on the same lap as us so it was a great fight until the end. “This result is perfect for us. We didn’t think we’d be getting our second consecutive podium when we came here,” he added. With the Dubai GP being moved a day earlier (after high winds and rough seas were forecast forSaturday), there is still more XCAT action to come this weekend. The one-on-one, drag race-style Dubai Duty Free Speed Cat Run will be contested at 2.30pmtomorrow afternoon, bringing the curtain down on the Dubai GP. After that, the action then moves to Lugano, Switzerland for the third round of the XCAT World Series from 4-5 June. For more information on the XCAT World Series and full results, log on to www.xcatracing.com
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Victory Team power to perfect 2016 XCAT start
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Images are now available for download on Image.net Content also available via All Access: www.image.net/xcat_fujairah_grand_prix |
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8 April 2016 – The Victory Team lived up to their name and reputation by taking the first title of the 2016 UIM XCAT World Powerboating Series with a win at the Fujairah GP on Friday.
The defending Series champions, Arif Al Zaffain and Nadir bin Hendi, stormed to the front in typical fashion and led from start to finish to top the podium and the Series after round 1.
It was not a race without drama, however, as Team Australia (Brett Luhrmann and Paul Virik Nilsen) and Abu Dhabi Team 5 (Rashed Al Tayer and Faleh Al Mansoori) collided at the first turn and the Australians flipped their boat.
With both drivers safely back on land, the race was restarted with Victory Team once again storming to the front on the first lap.
“It was dream race, yes, but the challenge was very tough,” said Bin Hendi. Speaking about having to start the race a second time, he added: “We were leading already so mentally it upsets you – a bit up and down because you have to do the start again. You don’t know what’s going to happen and you predict a lot of things but luckily it went in our favour and as you saw, Victory boats are always very good at the start.”
That they certainly were and once at the front the duo executed their race plan to perfection.
Meanwhile, further back Gold Coast.Australia were steadily making their way up the field. After a dismal start in eighth position, Tom Barry-Cotter and Ross Willaton made the decision to take their long laps early and the strategy paid off.
The pair had worked their way up to fourth spot when the Fujairah Team (Serafino Barlesi and Alessandro Barone) experienced problems and lost speed, meaning the Australians moved up into the podium places. Swecat Racing (Mikael Bentsson and Erik Stark) who were then in second still had one more long lap to complete however – and when they tackled that, the Gold Coast boast made their move up into second, where they stayed until the finish.
“We had a really bad qualifying session so we were starting from eighth on the grid,” explained Gold Coast’s Barry-Cotter. “We had a lot of technical issues but we knew all weekend that the boat had a lot of pace. It was just the technical issues holding us back.
“We got a really bad start so from there we were literally one of the last boats to come around the second corner so we made the call to take both the long laps straight away and we managed to have clear water. We honestly didn’t know until right at the end that we were still on for a podium, just because so many of the boats waited so long to take their long laps. So it was a lot of suspense for us. We were really aggressive. It’s a really great result for the team. They worked so hard to get the boat ready and I can’t thank them enough.”
Speaking about the new Mercury XCAT ROS 400 engines that have been introduced to the Series for the first time in this race, Barry-Cotter added: “Early in the weekend they had some gremlins but Mercury have been really good and the WPPA have been fantastic in tuning the engines to all the teams’ needs and they performed flawlessly this race and the boat is performing really well.”
Swecat eventually finished third with the Dubai combination of Salem Al Adidi and Eisa Al Ali grateful they weren’t the ones flipping their boat again – and finishing in fourth place.
“We didn’t know if we had the gap we needed to take the long lap but it was so close. I really enjoyed it. This is what racing should be like,” enthused Swecat’s Stark afterwards.
“These are really strong new engines so when you’re jumping they’re really pushing you. I really enjoyed it. For sure this is the future of XCAT,” he added.
Attention now moves to Dubai where the second round of the XCAT World Series will be contested from April 15-16.
For more information on the XCAT World Series and full results, log on to www.xcatracing.com
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Abu Dhabi Team 5 come out top in new Pole Position format
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7 April, 2016 – Rashed Al Tayer and Faleh Al Mansoori mastered the new Emaar Pole Position format to ensure Abu Dhabi Team 5 will start Friday’s Fujairah GP – the opening round of the 2016 UIM XCAT World Series – in top spot. |
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| Note to editors: About the UIM XCAT World Powerboat Series: XCAT, short for extreme catamaran, is one of the most challenging and extreme forms of powerboat racing in the world with the largest international contingent and greatest number of teams competing at spectacular locations across the globe. The XCAT World Series has experienced phenomenal growth in the last three years and 2015 saw even further expansion with races taking place on three different continents – including the exciting new venues of Australia and Portugal. The XCAT World Series stands well apart from other offshore powerboat racing events thanks to its unrelenting desire to reinvent and enhance the sport, delivering a unique, all-encompassing experience for host cities, spectators and the teams involved. |
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UIM XCAT World Series Facts and Figures
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