Victory Quickest in Qualifying / Class 1 World Powerboat Championship

Friday, 14 June, ISTANBUL (Turkey): Arif Al Zaffain and Mohammed Al Marri extended their unbeaten run in qualifying with a six straight win and will start race 1 of the Isiklar Turkish Grand Prix in pole position.

 

The defending Champions, who were quickest in first practice, were pushed all the way in one of the closest qualifying sessions in recent seasons, posting the fastest time of 2mins 51.03s around the 4.48Nm circuit on their first of just two flying laps, with just over a second separating the top three. “I was really surprised how quick the guys in seven were, but also very happy because it is a Victory built boat,” said driver Arif Al Zaffain. “We didn’t really push too hard today and now have an idea of the set-up we could run tomorrow, but it all depends on the weather.”


Darren Nicholson and Ross Willaton in HUB Team Australia made it two podiums in two outings in qualifying going second quickest in 2mins 51.45s, but were lucky not to tip the boat over immediately after posting their best time, hooking violently at the first turn after the start-finish line, but recovered well to go on and complete the session. “We made a mistake and nearly spun the boat out but we’re getting to learn the boat better each time we go out, “said Ross willaton. “The course is good and I think it will be a good race tomorrow.”

Italians Luca Formilli Fendi and Giovanni Carpitella maintained their impressive run of form to go third quickest and complete the podium. “We had the wrong set-up at the beginning, so we changed to get more speed in the calmer water but then the conditions changed. So good set-up wrong conditions. But there was only one second between the top three so we are happy.”

Rashed Al Tayer marked his retun to racing and his first outing on the throttles alongisde rookie Faleh Al Mansoori with a very respectable fourth place, finishing ahead of Miles Jennings and Alfredo Amato in Poliform by just 4/10ths of a second.

Turkish driver Tarik Oktem celebrated his Class 1 debut by picking up his first points in Class 1 finishing in fifth spot alongside Giampaolo Montavoci in Poliform, with Gian Maria Gabbiani and Luca Nicolini in FA.RO. ACCIAI in seventh.

There was disappointment for Turkish-Norwegian duo Ugur Isik and Christian Zaborowski who, despite winning the battle to have Zabo-Isiklar repaired and ready to go after their crash in Sanya, were forced to miss qualifying because of a loss of power in one engine.

TURKISH GRAND PRIX - EDOX POLE POSITION - results

1. 3 Victory - A Al Zaffain (UAE) / M Al Marri (UAE) - 02.51,03

2. 7 HUB Team Australia - D Nicholson (AUS) / R Willaton (AUS) - 02.51,45

3. 10 LFFendi10 - L Formilli Fendi (ITA) / G Carpitella (ITA) - 02.52,08

4. 5 Team Abu Dhabi - F Al Mansoori (UAE) / R Al Tayer (UAE) - 02.57,72

5. 8 LFFendi8 - Miles Jennings (GBR) / A Amato (ITA) - 03.01.35

6. 74 Poliform – T Oktem (TUR) / G Montavoci (SUI) - 03.01,76

7. 23 FA.RO. ACCIAI - G M Gabbiani (ITA) / L Nicolini (ITA) - 03.08,74

91 Zabo Isiklar - U Isik (TUR) / C Zaborowski (NOR) - dns

EDOX POLE POSITION CHAMPIONSHIP - after round 2

1. 3 Victory Team - 40pts 2. 7 HUB Team Australia - 27pts 3. 10 LFFendi10 - 21pts 4. 91 Zabo-Isiklar - 15pts 5. 8 LFFendi8 - 12pts 6. 23 FA.RO.ACCIAI - 11pts 7. 5 Team Abu Dhabi 9pts 8. 74. Poliform 5pts