Team Abu Dhabi’s Rashid Al-Tayer and Faleh Al-Mansoori qualified in third place for the Dubai Grand Prix, round two of the 2015 UIM XCAT World Series off the coast of the Dubai International Marine Club (DIMC) at Mina Seyahi on Friday.

The series leaders will have a fight on their hands to retain their championship lead in Saturday afternoon’s second race of the season, after X Dubai’s Arif Saif Al-Zafeen and Nadir bin Hendi claimed pole position from T-Bone Station in their re-branded Victory hull. The former Victory Team duo also won the Dubai Duty Free Speed Cat Run.

The run took place on Friday afternoon and first into the shoot-out were Mouawad and X Dubai, with Fujairah winner X Dubai taking the heat win. Air Team crushed Videx in heat two and Yachts pipped Lady Spain to a narrow win in heat three to book their quarterfinal place. Marine Investimenti Sud overcame Team Saracen Australia and Team Abu Dhabi held off Hoorsenbuhs to set up a last eight contest with Swecat Racing.

X Dubai comfortably saw off Air Team in the first quarterfinal and Yachts edged through to a last four clash with X Dubai after beating Marine Investimenti Sud. Team Abu Dhabi came from behind to beat Swecat Racing and set up their semi-final contest with Dubai, who beat wild card Videx in the last of the quarterfinal heats.

X Dubai made a strong start to comfortably beat Yachts to reach the final and Team Abu Dhabi lined up against Dubai in an all-UAE second semi-final but Salem Al-Adidi and Issa Al-Ali managed to hold off the Abu Dhabi duo to set up an all-Dubai final. Al-Tayer and Al-Mansoori faced Yachts in the third-placed play-off heat and missed out on third in a thrilling finish. X Dubai managed to hold off Dubai to claim the win in the final.

New additions to the 14-strong field included the American Jay Price and Italian co-pilot Roberto Lo Piano in Lady Spain. A wild card entry was also given to the four-stroke boat, 4 Strokes 4 Future, crewed by Mohammed Al-Marri and Fatima Abdullah Al-Za’abi - the first Emirati lady to appear in powerboat racing at this level.

Team Abu Dhabi’s Al-Tayer and Al-Mansoori took part in Pole Position qualifying on Friday morning after running for only three laps during Thursday’s practice session that was won by Giovanni Carpitella and Ahmed Al-Hameli in T-Bone Station. X Dubai edged into an early lead from T-Bone Station, Mouawad and Lady Spain, but Team Abu Dhabi’s first tour of 2min 39.89sec saw them move into fourth place.

X Dubai held on to claim pole position with the lap of 2min 34.57sec. T-Bone Station was a solid second and Team Abu Dhabi’s final tour of 2min 38.82sec in the dying seconds was enough for them to snatch third place from Yachts. Mouawad and Lady Spain qualified in fifth and sixth.

Team Abu Dhabi is based at the Abu Dhabi International Marine Sports Club (ADIMSC) and is supported by Etihad Airways as official carrier and sponsor and runs under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan Bin Khalifa Al-Nahyan, advisor to the Head of State and chairman of the board of directors of the ADIMSC.

Teams will take part in the Dubai Grand Prix, the second round of the 2015 UIM XCAT World Series, at 3pm on Saturday afternoon.

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