Dubai teams to battle for supremacy in home waters
Victory 1 and Fazza in line with a chance to win Sam Griffith trophy
Dubai: The battle for the most prestigious crown in powerboat racing reaches a climax at the Dubai International Marine Club this week with two crews still in the running for the coveted UIM-WPPA Class 1 World Championship.
In the blue corner, 2007 World Champion throttleman Jean-Marc Sanchez and rookie Dubai pilot Mohammad Al Muhairi in Victory 1, while in the black corner the mighty Fazza, crewed by UAE pilots Nadir Bin Hindi and Arif Al Zafein.
The world title duel comes on the back of eight races at five Grands Prix meetings in Qatar, Norway, Romania, Italy and Abu Dhabi and will be decided over two races staged tomorrow and Saturday as part of the traditional season-ending Emirates/Dubai Duty Free Dubai Grand Prix.
Although both boats are built and prepared by the Dubai Victory Team — making it a ninth Class 1 world title for the Dubai stable — it remains to be seen which crew will be celebrating with the famed Sam Griffith Trophy come Saturday night.
Just eight points separate Fazza and Victory 1 after what has been a titanic struggle for supremacy all season, with the championship lead changing hands almost on a race-by-race basis.
Marginal favourites
Fazza's Al Zafein and Bin Hindi will start as marginal favourites with six race wins to the two of Al Muhairi and Sanchez, who have already clinched the European Championship in Victory 1.
Victory Team general manager Gianfranco Venturelli has already stated that team orders are not part of the race strategy leaving both crews well aware that the title is up for grabs to the crew who can produce the racing goods on the day.
"Eight points is never enough when it comes down to a situation like this," smiled Bin Hindi, who earlier this season clinched the Class 3 Six Litre crown with friend and racing partner Al Zafein.
For Sanchez, there is the opportunity of a second Class 1 world title in three years — he lifted the crown in 2007 when partnering Al Zafein in his Class 1 rookie season. Another successful weekend and it could well be the 2009 rookie Al Muhairi on top of the world.
