Following the announcement that Alya Abdul Salam, the first Emirati female to participate in F4 powerboat races and hold an UIM International Racing License will participate in the Scandinavian Championship this summer, comes the news that Dubai’s Obaid Bin Mubarak has also teamed up with the Norwegian based RaceFactory.
Run by its founder Frode Sundsdal, who organises the highly successful Tønsberg Boat Show and Tønsberg Båtrace, a round of the 2024 UIM F2 World Championship, the RaceFactory team has spent the last three days carrying out a testing programme that involved Mubarak familiarising himself with the F4 hull that he will compete in at a series of races this year culminating in a trip to Viverone in Italy for the final round of the UIM F4 World Championship in mid-September.
Mubarak brings with him a wealth of experience having started his racing career in Aquabikes at the age of fourteen, initially competing on stand-up jet skis for two years before transitioning to the highly competitive performance jet skis.
After a decade of Aquabikes he made the switch to F4 circuit racing where he secured a second-place finish overall at his race debut in Abu Dhabi back in December 2023. The high point came earlier this year when the Sharjah International Marine Sports Club organised the second round of the UAE F4 Powerboat Championship at the Al Khan Beach in Sharjah City where he went one better. This time Mubarak qualified on pole position just ahead of the Kuwait driver Rashid Aldhawas, then went on to dominate both heats beating Nasser Al Marri by ten seconds in the first and again in the second one to secure maximum championship points.
‘I believe racing F4 offers me a promising future due to the potential for advancement across circuit categories and its broader scope’ said Mobarak. ‘I am very pleased that these early successes led me to an exciting opportunity in Norway with Frode at the RaceFactory, a workshop renowned for its high standards and impeccable cleanliness—truly the cleanest I’ve ever seen.’
Frode Sundsdal was extremely please with how all three of his young drivers trained at the Akkerhaugen venue.
‘This weekend not only have we been blessed with glorious weather here in Norway but also I have witnessed three talented drivers, who really do get on so well off the water but once on it will battle their hardest to finish ahead of their teammates.’
Mubarak concluded by saying
‘Training alongside talented young racers like the 2023 GT30 World Champion William Martinsen and the equally competitive Sindre Sundsdal Anundsen has been exhilarating. Training with top-notch talent pushes me to excel, making this an excellent kick-off to my Scandinavian Summer.’
