Dubai: World champions Fazza have given the new four-stroke engines the thumbs-up keeping in mind the future of powerboat racing.
The Fazza duo of Arif Al Zafe’in and Nader Bin Hindi cruised to their fifth straight win at the Emirates XCAT Grand Prix held at the Dubai International Marine Club (DIMC) on Saturday.
Though Fazza did not add any points to their unassailable lead of 1,600 points following their four earlier victories in the season, the team was pleased with the way the new engines responded during actual racing.
XCAT boats presently use non-EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) engines that can go up to 3,000 cc with a maximum of 300 hp. So far the only engine that has been homologated is the Mercury 2.5 race engine that is being used by the boats for the past few years now.
However, as per regulations the sport of powerboat racing needs to make a total switch to four-stroke machines from 2016 keeping in mind various issues in the sport, including pollution levels. “These new engines are the future of our sport. The only way is forward for us and I feel we need to embrace new technology so that our sport can take the next step forward,” Al Zafe’in told Gulf News after adding the XCAT World title to last week’s Class One Offshore World crown won in Abu Dhabi.
After winning all four races on the XCAT calendar this season, Fazza opted to test the newly-developed, more reliable and custom-made 350hp XCAT Mercury 4-stroke engines for the final round last weekend. “The response from the engine has been marvellous. It has good torque and each engine can be used at least for two full seasons of racing. In addition, the reliability of the new engines is far superior to that of the previous two-stroke engines,” Al Zafe’in said.
The Victory Team driver is today [Monday] scheduled to present his inputs at a special meeting of a high-powered committee consisting of team owners, drivers, organisers WPPA and the world governing body UIM. “My inputs will have a lot of bearing on the ultimate decision of the committee. And you can be sure that I will be rooting for the use of these new engines from next season,” Al Zafe’in said.
