Arif Al Zaffain and Nadir Bin Hendi won the first of three XCAT races to be held in Shanghai this weekend, the pair drove Dubai Police to a close finish win over championship leaders, Shaun Torrente and Faleh Al Mansoori.

Pole Position

Team Abu Dhabi’s Rashed Al Tayer and Majed Al Mansoori secured their first ever pole position in the UIM XCAT World Championship today at the start of a tense three days of racing in China.

Al Tayer and Al Mansoori in Abu Dhabi 5 set the fastest qualifying time for the Shanghai Grand Prix when they clocked 2:13.692 on their fifth of ten laps.

They topped the standings comfortably from Tom Barry-Cotter and Ross Willaton in Maritimo (2:14.768) and the Dubai Police pairing of Arif Al Zaffain and Nadir Bin Hendi (2:15.500).

Team Abu Dhabi’s reigning XCAT world champions and current series leaders, Shaun Torrente and Faleh Al Mansoori in Abu Dhabi 4, (below) set the fourth fastest time.

Photo: Raffaello Bastiani

Andrea Comello and Luca Betti turned Consulbrokers over and could not ready the boat in time to start the race.

Race 1

Arif Al Zaffain and Nadir Bin Hendi were well known for their explosive starts when they competed for the Victory Team, this morning they used that experience to get away from the green flag first leaving Torrente and Al Mansoori behind them.

The pole-sitters, Al Tayer and Al Mansoori had to be content with third (below).

Photo: Raffaello Bastiani

The result means Torrente and Al Mansoori carry a nine-point championship lead into tomorrow’s second Grand Prix race, with a third to follow on Sunday.

Photo: Raffaello Bastiani

2019 UIM XCAT World Championship - Shanghai Grand Prix - Race 1