Bin Hindi clinches second place in Portugal

Overcoming a blown engine after the first race, UAE's leading jet ski pilot Nader bin Hindi fought brilliantly to grab the runner-up spot in the 1200cc Superstock category race of the second round of the International Jet Sports Boating Association (IJSBA) World and European Series held in Mirandela, Portugal recently.

Bin Hindi gave a run for the money to every other competitor in his category. But finally it was Frenchmen Francky Zapata who stole the show wit the top spot.

Zapata finished first overall with two firsts and a second from the three motos held.

The flamboyant UAE rider, known for his unmatched skill among Arab riders, was a close second behind Kawasaki rider Zapata in the first race held on Saturday.

"After the first race, Nader's engine was totally in bad shape. His tuner Taleb Sharaf worked the whole night to fix it and finally decided to replace it with a new one for the remaining two races scheduled for Sunday," said Jamal Saleh bin Lahej, who accompanied the UAE rider.

But luck was not on his side and bin Hindi failed to take the start with the rest in the second race with starting trouble. Finally after all the other competitors took off, the UAE lad fought back into contention and managed fourth and kept his hopes alive for a place on the podium.

The final race in the afternoon was one last chance for bin Hindi to prove his quality among the European and American riders. And he staved off the stiff challenge from Zapata and the rest of the field to cross the chequred flag first.

Meanwhile, Omar bin Thani, Rashid Al Tayer and Mohammed Naser Saeed Al Mansouri, the three other UAE riders who were supposed to take part in the event along with bin Hindi, decided not to participate in the race after realising the shipping costs for their jet skies from Italy to Portugal is well above their budgets.

Bin Hindi will skip the next round of the series to be held in Dinant, Belgium but is hoping of taking part in the fourth and final round slated from August 29-31 in Savona, Italy.