Dubai: Rashid Khalifa Al Merri and Salem Fadil Al Hameli, in their Extreme Marine boat, won an incident-filled opening round of the 2010 UIM X-Cat Middle East Powerboat Championship held at the Mina Seyahi breakwaters of Dubai International Marine Club (DIMC), on Wednesday.
The race — the first of four to be held this month as part of the Middle East Championships — was red flagged in the very first lap due to a false start by one of the boats.
Problems
In the re-start that occurred after a long break, pole position leaders Fazza 3 with Nader Bin Hindi and Arif Saif Al Zafein at the helm, started experiencing problems allowing Grant Bruggemann and Gary Ballough in their PRO Marine boat to take the lead.
Extreme Marine and the PRO Marine duo of Bruggemann and Ballough started a tussle at the top that was eventually won by the team from Abu Dhabi. From then on, there was no looking back for Al Merri and Al Hameli as they went on to establish a lead of nearly 300 metres from the Lux Media Offshore team of Mike Seebold and Michel Karsenti, who managed to edge the PRO pair into fourth, even as the brotherly duo of Ahmad Ali Jaber Al Hameli and Rashid Jaber Al Hameli nestled into third place.
Salem Rashid Al Rumaithi, Managing Director Abu Dhabi International Marine Sports Club (ADIMSC), IOTA President and UIM Commissioner Mohammad Al Jaidah and Ahmad Ebrahim from the UAE Marine Sports Federation presented the trophies to the winners.
"We are happy with the way the first race went without any incidents. Though we did have some instances, the new safety procedures in place ensured that we are prepared for any sort of eventuality," Sid Bensaleh, DIMC General Manager stated.
Al Merri and Al Hameli were pleased to open the season with a win.
"The conditions were rough out there and we have not had enough time to even test this boat.
"But we are pleased that we could get maximum points in this one due to our superior knowledge of the waters around here," Al Hameli told Gulf News.
Results: 1. Extreme Marine (Rashid Khalifa Al Merri/Salem Fadil Al Hameli); 2. Lux Media Offshore (Mike Seebold/Michel Karsenti); 3. Abu Dhabi Racing Team (Ahmad Ali Jaber Al Hameli/Rashid Jaber Al Hameli); 4. Westerlund Racing (Joakim Kumlin/Daniel Svenson); 5. Qatar Team (Mohammad Adnan Al Rais/Mohammad Al Nasser).
