Essa Al Ali and Salem Al Adidi are quietly hopeful of steering the Victory Team to success in the first round of the 2019 APBA Offshore Championship at Cocoa Beach this weekend.
The pairing will be taking part in the Class One International category, Al Ali had this to say before making the trip from Dubai to Florida:
Last year proved to us that we care capable of delivering with the right mental attitude.
It was a testing time for all of us, the drivers, the crew and the management as we sought to impose our racing pedigree in a brand-new location for us.
Our first part of success lay in two Victory Team boats ending on the podium, and we’ve not looked back since then. The goal this year will be to definitely try and return with even more success.
The experience we got from racing last year was crucial for our growth as racers.
This year we are up in our Boat No.3 in very familiar circumstances compared to the rest of the participants, and this will play a huge role in our success this week.
We have been clear of what we need to do and get the success.
We represent Victory Team – We represent Dubai and we are the ambassadors for the UAE.
We leave with just the podiums and the championships in our sights – We start off with an advantage this season as we will not be struggling as far as the boat set-up goes.
It will be tough for us as we will have to race during Ramadan, but therein lies the challenge and our will as sportsmen while performing in extreme conditions.