Team Abu Dhabi continues its exciting summer tour of major European power boating events after deciding to enter two drivers in the forthcoming Norwegian round of the UIM F2 World Championship in Tønsberg on August 5-7.
Emirati drivers Rashed Al-Qamzi and Mohammed Al-Mehairbi have been entered in the fourth round of the prestigious series at the helm of Team Abu Dhabi 35 and 36.
It will be the third foray into F2 racing for the team running out of the Abu Dhabi International Marine Sports Club (ADIMSC) after Al-Qamzi and Al-Mehairbi took part in the second round at Campione d’Italia on Lake Lugano. Adverse weather conditions disrupted that event, but failed to prevent the Emirati duo from finishing an impressive sixth and 14th on their F2 racing debuts. Sweden’s Pierre Lundin claimed the winners’ spoils from England’s Matt Palfreyman and Sweden’s Erik Edin.
Alex Carella, the current UIM F1 H2O World Championship leader, represented Team Abu Dhabi at the opening round in Peurunka in Finland and was deprived of outright victory by a post-race technicality.
Al-Qamzi and Al-Mehairbi were not able to attend the third round at Tvedestrand, because of a direct date clash with the Augustów Endurance Race on Necko Lake in Poland, but the Team Abu Dhabi duo are confident that they can build upon recent performances and push for the podium against strong opposition in southern Norway.
Erik Edin currently holds a one-point lead in the championship after finishing third on Lake Lugano and winning the last round in Tvedestrand, but Pierre Lundin is breathing down his neck and the young Italian member of Team Abu Dhabi’s endurance team, Alberto Comparato, is third. Al-Qamzi collected five points for his efforts in Campione d’Italia, but challenging for the title is not one of the real targets this season for either of the Team Abu Dhabi drivers.
Salem Al-Romaithi, assistant general manager of the Abu Dhabi International Marine Sports Club (ADIMSC) said,
Entering these challenging races is all about giving our drivers as much experience as we can against the best racers in the world. Rashed and Mohammed have made rapid progress this year and have been setting impressive lap times in both Formula and Endurance racing. This has been an exciting summer for Team Abu Dhabi and it is important that we continue to nurture our local talent and promote the emirate of Abu Dhabi on a world stage in a truly international sporting spotlight.
Tønsberg is the oldest city in Norway and is situated around 100km from the capital Oslo and 224km from the port of Kristiansand. It is a municipality in Vestfold county in the south of the country and lies on the western coast of the Oslofjord, near its mouth with the Skagerrak. It was established as a municipality in 1838, but records date back as far as 1130 and the city was reportedly founded before the Battle of Hafrsfjord, circa AD871.
The Tønsberg Båtrace is organised by Re Motorsport under the auspices of the Norwegian Motorsport Federation (NWF) and the support of F2 racer, journalist and project manager Frode Sundsdal.
Check-in, registration and scrutineering will take place on Thursday evening (August 4) and Friday morning, before the official opening ceremony takes centre stage at 18.00hrs on Friday evening. There will then be a mandatory Speed Run and Match Run for entrants and an official welcome ceremony.
Free practice for the F2 boats is scheduled from 13.30hrs on Saturday (August 6) and qualifying and the shoot-out for pole position gets underway at 18.00hrs. After heats for smaller capacity boats on Sunday morning, Team Abu Dhabi will line up in the UIM F2 parade at 15.45hrs and the Tønsberg F2 World Championship race fires into life at 16.30hrs (Norwegian time).
