Shaun Torrente and Faleh Al Mansoori began the defence of their 2018 XCAT World Championsip title with a victory in Stresa today.
Starting race one in third place after the qualifying shoot out, Torrente and Al Mansoori in Abu Dhabi 4 made a superb start and then never looked back.
Torrente told me:
The start was really good, we knew that we had the correct set-up for the start shoot here,
We were concerned we didn’t have enough top end, however, the other guys ran shorter than us.
We maintained our speed, didn’t take any risks and controlled the race from the front.
The Pole Sitters, Tom Barry-Cotter and Ross Willaton in Maritimo, took second, after dropping down to 5th after the start, but made their way through the field with a combination of speed and a canny use of electing when to take the longer laps.
The Dubai Police combination of Arif Al Zaffain and Nadir Bin Hendi took the third podium place.
2019 UIM XCAT World Championship - Round 1 - Stresa, Italy - Race 1
| # | Country | Boat Name | Hulll | Driver | Co-Driver | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | UAE | Team Abu Dhabi | Victory | Shaun Torrente | Faleh Al Mansoori | |
| 12 | AUS | Maritimo | Maritimo | Tom Barry-Cotter | Ross Willaton | 00.08.60 |
| 3 | UAE | Dubai Police | Victory | Arif Al Zaffain | Nadir Bin Hendi | 00.11.86 |
| 8 | AUS | The Blue Roo | Victory | Pål-Virik Nilsen | Jan Trygve Braaten | 00.28.23 |
| 10 | ITA / AUS | 222 Offshore | Victory | Giovanni Carpitella | Darren Nicholson | 1.010.41 |
| 96 | ITA | HPI Racing Team | Doug Wright | Rosario Schiano Di Cola | Giuseppe Schiano Di Cola | 1.019.69 |
| 5 | UAE | Team Abu Dhabi | Victory | Rashid Suhail Al Tayer | Majed Saeed Al Mansoori | 1.024.73 |
| 2 | SWE | Swecat Racing | Victory | Erik Stark | Sebastian Groth | 2.03.06 |
| 22 | ITA | Videx | Victory | Alfredo Amato | Joakim Kumlin | 2.09.15 |
| 9 | RUS | New star | Victory | Mikhail Kitashev | Dmitriy Vandyshev | 2.032.17 |
| 46 | ESP | Consulbrokers | Victory | Andrea Comello | Luca Betti | 2.050.73 |
| 20 | ITA | De Mitri | Victory | Roberto Lo Piano | Andrew Willaton | L +2 |
| 17 | KUW | Kuwait | Victory | Abdullatif Al Omani | Moustafa Al Dashti | DQ |
