The Italian/Australian partnership of Giovanni Carpitella and Darren Nicholson secured pole position in 222 Offshore at the opening round of the 2021 UIM XCAT World Championship, taking place this week in the UAE. They were the only team to set a time below the three-minute twenty mark.
The Emirati duo of Rashed Al Tayer and Majed Al Mansoori racing in Abu Dhabi 5 had earlier set the fastest lap time during official practice but then qualified in second position for tomorrow’s first of three Grand Prix races taking place in the space of four days off the Fujairah International Marine Club.
Team Abu Dhabi’s Shaun Torrente and Faleh Al Mansoori, who won the World XCAT crown back in 2018 set the third fastest time in Abu Dhabi 4. Following a hectic weekend in Portugal at the final rounds of the UIM F1H2O Championship where he finished third overall in the championship, Torrente said he was a little bit short on sleep but he should be ok for the race. As for the course condition he said that it was rough out in the far corner, running about five-to-seven-foot waves.
‘We only ran a few laps because we didn’t want to tear up the stuff as we have a lot of races coming up’ he said. ‘We are both happy with the boat as the balance feels just right. We put one hard lap in the end which put us in the top three and that worked out perfect as our teammates will be starting right alongside us. Our main goal is to get a good finish, if we can get a win then that’s great but we won’t force it, its all about getting points this week.’
Scott Williams and Martin Campbell from Team GB put the ex-Team Australia hull to great use as they posted the fifth quickest time. ‘That was certainly a tough start to our XCat campaign’ said Campbell. ‘There were some big waves out there to contend with’ said the former Honda Formula 4-Stroke racer.
Rounding out the top six were the Victory Team’s Erik Stark and Mohamed Alyammahi, who seemed to be enjoying the rough stuff as this year’s shortened XCAT World Championship got underway.
Qualifying Results for Fujairah Grand Prix
Race one
- (IT/AU) Giovanni Carpitella/Darren Nicholson 3.17.399
- Abu Dhabi 5 (UAE) Rashed Al Tayer/Majed Al Mansoori 3.20.699
- Abu Dhabi 4 (UAE) Shaun Torrente/Faleh Almansoori 3.21.548
- Six (MC) Tomaso Polli/Matteo Nicolini 3.24.843
- Team GB (UK) Scott Williams/Martin Campbell 3.25.210
- Victory Team (UAE) Erik Stark/Mohamed Alyammahi 3,27.289
- Foresti E Suardi (IT) Roberto Lo Piano/Giampaolo Montavoci 3.29.737
- Dubai Police (UAE) Arif Al Zaffain/Nadir Bin Hendi 3.30.272
- HPI Racing Team (IT) Rosario Schiano Di Cola/Giuseppe Schiano Di Cola 3.30.589
- Pasta Amato (IT) Alfredo Amato/Saul Bubacco 3.43.225
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