Victory Team gives rookie race debut

Dubai: With a ninth Class 1 World Powerboat Championship already guaranteed, the Dubai Victory Team will give a C1 race debut to Marwan Al Ayali Thursday as the world's premier team looks to build on yet another successful season.

With the Class 1 crown going to either Fazza's Nadir Bin Hindi and Arif Al Zafein or Victory 1's Mohammad Al Muhairbi and Jean Marc Sanchez, rookie pilot Al Ayali will make his first Class 1 start at the wheel of Victory 7 in the first race of the Emirates/Dubai Duty Free Grand Prix weekend.

The 35 year old from Jumeirah will join forces with two-time and defending world champion Mohammad Al Merri.

"I've been wanting to race Class 1 for such a long time so this is a big honour for me," said Al Ayali, a multiple UAE champion in a wooden powerboat when racing alongside Victory 1's Al Muhairbi.

Despite a racing career that stretches back some 16 years, Al Ayali knows the step up to the big league of Class 1 is a formidable one.

"It's completely different to what I'm used to — there's a lot more horsepower to handle and the speeds of over 200km/h make it a very tough class to get used to. But Mohammad has so much experience and I know I can learn a lot from having him on throttles."

After test sessions in the cockpit of Victory 7 alongside Al Merri in both Stresa in Italy and Abu Dhabi last month, Al Ayali finally took to home waters in Dubai yesterday for the first practice session of the two-race climax to the Class 1 World Championship. Five-foot waves on the offshore section made life difficult for the pilots and ensured a rough introduction to the world of Class 1 for the latest Victory Team rookie to join the sport's elite class.