The UAE’s Arif Al Zafeen and Nader Bin Hendi maintained their 100% start to the 2010 Class 1 World Powerboat Championship collecting their fourth win of the year at the BMW Norwegian Grand Prix in Arendal today. Averaging 173.15kmph, the reigning world champions held off a spirited late challenge from Italy’s Giovanni Carpitella and Giorgio Manuzzi in Spirit of Dubai to win by 3.14s.
Making it a Dubai 1-2-3 – all three boats having been built by Dubai’s famous Victory Team – were Fazza 1 pilots Mohammed Al Marri and Abdullah Al Mehairbi who finished more than two minutes later in third place.
Yet while it was a podium whitewash by the black hulls from the UAE, it could have been so different had early pace setters Kolbjorn Selmer and Jorn Tandberg not bowed out on lap two of twelve with a broken rudder in Welmax.
The home favourites powered ahead and took the lead from the green flag, opening up a six second lead by the end of the first lap. Unfortunately, a heavy landing snapped the rudder on Welmax and left them without steering as Bin Hendi and Al Zafeen swept by to take a lead they never looked likely of losing.
“We have been saying all weekend that we knew Welmax was very fast,” said throttleman Bin Hendi. “The V8 motors have tremendous torque and top speed and I am sure they were doing over 150mph, while we were doing around 140mph. Once they got ahead our aim was to fight it out over the next eleven laps and put but pressure on them.
“We were ready for a long fight and I think we were getting closer to them through the turns before they suddenly started veering left and right and we got by them.”
Fazza 3’s win gives Bin Hendi and Al Zafeen a massive boost as they aim to hang on to the Class 1 world title they won in brilliant style in 2009. Their nearest rivals for the crown, team mates Al Marri and Al Mehairbi had to settle for third place in Fazza 1 despite losing ground thanks to a poor start that saw their black cat take off in spectacular fashion before landing safely.
“We changed the set up but it didn’t work at all,” said two-time world champion Al Marri. “I had to go down with the trim in order to get the boat back on the water when we caught a lot of air after Relekta cut in front of us. We then had problems with the steering but we opted to carry on and I used the throttles to help turn the boat. Getting third place with these problems was a bonus.”
With two podium finishes from two starts, experienced throttleman Carpitella is naturally delighted with his first two races in the cockpit of the all-new Spirit of Dubai.
“It’s a fantastic boat and I hope to be back for the next races in Sweden,” said the flamboyant pony-tailed Italian. “Unlike in race one, we got off to a good start but Welmax and Relekta were both very fast away from the green flag. We were never really likely to threaten Fazza 3 as there was too much wind and I think the three-second gap at the end was more down to them slowing down than us catching up.”
Fazza 3’s win extends their lead at the top of the championship to 29 points over Fazza 1. Welmax remains in third place some 53 points behind Bin Hendi and Al Zafeen. The next two races on the calendar are in Sweden in August.
OFFICIAL RESULTS - Race 2 Norwegian Grand Prix1. Fazza 3 - Bin Hendi/Al Zafeen (UAE) 43m:23.23s (173.15kmh) 2. Spirit of Dubai – Carpitella/Manuzzi (I) 43m:26.37s (172.94kmh) 3. Fazza 1 - Al Marri/Al Mehairbi (UAE) 46m:00.34s (163.30kmh)
Overall World Championship Standings After Four Races
1. Fazza 3 - Bin Hendi/Al Zafeen (UAE) 82pts
2. Fazza 1 - Al Marri/Al Mehairbi (UAE) 53
3. Welmax 90 – Tandberg/Selmer (Nor) 29
4. Spirit of Dubai – Carpitella/Manuzzi (I) 27
5. Primatist – Cappellini/Giorgi (UAE/I) 23
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