Abu Dhabi: The Dubai 33 crew of Salem Al Adidi and Eissa Al Ali produced a last-gasp lap of 2min 18.259sec to claim pole position for Friday’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in the qualifying session at the Abu Dhabi Breakwater on Thursday afternoon.
Team Abu Dhabi 5’s Rashid Al Tayer and Majid Al Mansoori had stolen a march on all their rivals in the opening session and looked to have pole sewn up when they ran a lap of 2min 18.817sec in the Q3 shoot-out. They missed out on pole on home waters by just over half a second, but are well placed to push for the outright victory on Friday.
The Italian duo of Alfredo Amato and Diego Testa gave an impressive showing in Carpisa Yamanay to claim third place with a time of 2min 19.062sec. Arif Saif Al-Zafeen and Nadir Bin Hendi continued the development of the Generation 2 four-stroke XCAT and the Dubai-based UIM XCAT World Series champions claimed fourth in the line-up for Friday’s race after they spun out of Q3 in a dramatic twist of events at the final corner of the lap.
“It would have been nice to claim the pole position, but that is racing I guess,” said Team Abu Dhabi’s Al Mansoori. “We gave it our best shot, but we will start the race in a very strong position and we are determined to take the win.”
Timetable of events
Friday, November 18
10.00-11.00: Official practice
15.30: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
