Victory Team Photo:  Raffaello Bastiani

After the teams completion of 2 long laps saw the positions stabilize with Victory Team in 1st place, Abu Dhabi Team in 2nd and Gold Coats Australia in 3rd. Around Lap 11 we saw boat number 6 pull out with possible mechanical issues.

After Victory Team and Abu Dhabi Team completed their final long lap, Gold Coast Australia came out of nowhere to pass RASHED SUHAIL AL TAYER and FALEH KHALFAN ALMANSOORI of Abu Dhabi Team and slot themselves into 2nd place, it was a magnificent lap from TOM BARRY COTTER and ROSS WILLATON of Gold Coats Australia making up so much time to achieve the second place position being only 6 seconds behind the leaders.

There was a great battle going on in the background with MIKAEL BENGTSSON and ERIK STARK of Swecat and PAL VIRIK NILSEN and BRETT LUHRMANN of Team Australia with SHAUN TORRENTE and MIKHAIL KITASHEV of the New Russian team New Star not giving up for a 4th place.

Swecat Photo: Raffaello Bastiani

It was Team Australia that took 4th place and SALEM AL ADIDI and EISA AL ALI of the Dubai team taking 5th place leaving us with a final battle between in the New Star and Swecat giving us a nail biting finish with a neck and neck burst right to the end where Swecat finally took 5th place by a nose.

It was a terrific performance by both teams as Swecat was nearly a no starter due to the crash with Lady Spain in the Practice Run earlier today. New Star should be very happy and pleased to make it in the top 6 at their Debut Race here in Beautiful Lugano.

A special appearance was made by H.H. Dr. Sheikh Sultan Bin Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Advisor to the U.A.E. President who joined Mr Raffaele Chiulli Predident of the UIM, Mr Issa Khalfan bin Kharbash Vice President of The WPPA, Mr Ali Bin Hendi Acting CEO, Marco Borradori Mayor Of Lugano, Mario Tamborini President of Lake Lugano Trophy and Bruno Huber Director of Lake Lugano Trophy for the Official Podium Trophy Presentation.

All in all it was a fantastic day, a brilliant week at a beautiful location, there awesome action, some ups and downs, but what was great to see was the support of the local and international fans that came along to watch the events throughout the week.

The main race attendance came in at 15,000 people who lined the shoreline and enjoyed the day.

The Podium Photo: Marzia Benincasa

Official Results For The 2016 Lugano GP are:

Victory Team – Completed Race in 00.41.53.31

Gold Coast Australia – Completed Race in 00.42.00.04

Abu Dhabi Team – Completed Race in 00.42.29.83

Team Australia – Completed Race in 00.42.36.19

race_result_final

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The series-leading Victory Team crew of Arif Saif Al-Zafeen and Nadir bin Hendi qualified in fourth and Lady Spain’s Jay Price and Joakhim Kumlin finished a fine second.

After a pair of back-to-back races in the United Arab Emirates in the spring, the calmer waters of Lake Lugano were a welcome change for the impressive field of 14 boats that lined up for pole qualifying and the Dubai Duty Free Speed Cat Runs later in the afternoon. Team Abu Dhabi runs out of the Abu Dhabi International Marine Sports Club (ADIMSC) and know the importance of achieving at least a podium finish in Lugano after dropping points to their leading challengers in Fujairah and Dubai.

“Third in the pole position is an excellent result for Faleh and Rashed and puts us in a perfect position to challenge for the victory tomorrow afternoon,” said Salem Al-Romeithi, assistant general manager of the ADIMSC. “It would have been nice to claim pole, but the competition is tough and we will, at least, start ahead of the boat that leads the XCAT World Series.”

Team Abu Dhabi is sponsored by Etihad Airways and runs under the patronage of His Highness Dr. Sheikh Sultan Bin Khalifa Al-Nahyan, advisor to the Head of State and chairman of the board of directors of the Abu Dhabi International Marine Sports Club (ADIMSC).

All 14 boats took part in Thursday afternoon’s practice session and Victory Team’s Arif Saif Al-Zafeen and Nadir bin Hendi set the fastest lap of 2min 25.480sec after completing 11 laps of the challenging Lake Lugano course. Swecat Racing’s Mikael Bengtsson and Erik Stark were second with a lap of 2min 25.933sec and Team Abu Dhabi 5’s Al-Mansoori and Al-Tayer ran for 10 laps and posted the fifth quickest time of 2min 27.066sec.

The inaugural Lugano Grand Prix take centre stage at 3.30pm (5.30pm UAE time) on Sunday afternoon.

2016 Lugano Grand Prix – Emaar Pole Position results (unofficial):

1. Gold Coast Australia

2. Lady Spain

3. Team Abu Dhabi 5

4. Victory Team

The post Third-placed Team Abu Dhabi ‘s Al-tayer And Al-mansoori Perfectly Placed To Challenge For Lugano Grand Prix Honours appeared first on Powerboat Racing World.