24/11/2010
VICTORY’S NEW BOAT SHOWS ITS PEDIGREE
Wednesday, 24 November, ABU DHABI (UAE): Dubai’s Victory Team dominated first official practice for this week’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, locking out the top three positions.

But it was the newest offering from Victory’s design shop, Victory 2010, that caught the eye when Arif Al Zafeen and Nader Bin Hendi switched boats towards the end of the session to post the fastest time, eclipsing the time they set in Fazza by over two seconds, with teammates Abdullah Al Mehairbi and Talib al Sayed going third quickest in Skydive Dubai.

Team Abu Dhabi’s Rashed Al Tayer and John Tomlinson opened their account, racing in their home Grand Prix for the first time, with a respectable fourth fastest, despite neither pilot being totally happy with their set-up but confident that they can improve on their times.

Of the four new driver pairings out on the water this afternoon, it was Negotiator’s Giovanni Carpitella and Class 1 debutant Luca Fendi - who impressed on his first outing in a Class 1 - who came out on top before cutting short their session after damaging a propeller.

Relekta used the majority of the session as a shakedown to find the right lines and saw their times gradually improve, with Christian Zaborowski happy with the boats overall speed. Nicola Giorgi, although not altogether happy with the course, was more than pleased with his first outing alongside another Class 1 newcomer, Sandro Sardelli in GiorgiOffshore, as was double World Champion Mohammed Al Marri on his first outing in the new Victory boat with Giorgio Manuzzi.

Welmax’s Kolbjorn Selmer and Jorn Tandberg ran a very low key first session and focused on shaking down the boat, with GSG Ceramic Design’s Guido Cappellini and Giampaolo Montavoci suffering one or two technical problems that limited them to one timed lap.

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – first official ractice

1. Victory 2010 - G Manuzzi (SMR) / M Al Marri (UAE) - 02.18,78*
2. Fazza - A Al Zafeen (UAE) / N Bin Hendi (UAE) - 02.21,21
3. Skydive Dubai - A Al Mehairbi (UAE) / T Al Sayed (UAE) - 02.22,29
4. Team Abu Dhabi - R Al Tayer (UAE) / J Tomlinson (USA) - 02.23,57
5. Negotiator - L Formilli Fendi (ITA) / G Carpitella (ITA) - 02.25,65
6. Relekta - P Gaiser (BRA) / C Zaborowski (NOR) - 02.26,70
7. Welmax - K Selmer (NOR) / J Tandberg (NOR) - 02.27,28
8. GiorgiOffshore - S Sardelli (ITA) / N Giorgi (ITA) - 02.36,79
9. GSG Ceramic Design - G Cappellini (ITA) / G Montavoci (ITA) - 03.09,45
* Victory 2010 - fastest lap posted by A Al Zafeen and N Bin Hendi

pics on www.class-1.com

pat W