Dubai: Arif Al Zafein and Nader Bin Hindi’s new Fazza boat was put to the test for the first time in official practice at the third round of the UIM Skydive Dubai XCAT World Series in Naples, Italy, on Friday.

And, while they may not have been entirely satisfied with the set-up, the duo still managed to record the quickest lap of 2min 36.50sec.

That put them a massive three seconds ahead of the second-placed home Cantiere Postiglione team of Alfredo Amato and Marco Pennesi (2:39.61). Fellow Italians Luca Fendi and Giovanni Carpitella in T-bone Station were marginally slower in a time of 2:39.92.

“It was good, although we had a few issues at the start because this is the first time we are testing the boat,” Bin Hindi said.

“We had some engine problems and a set-up problem. The water conditions are totally different.

“This is a new boat — not the one we used in the previous races because we had to send that to America to race. So it’s a completely different set-up. We didn’t get a chance to test in Dubai because of shipping it here so we’ll see what we can do to improve it.

“I can’t say we’re 100 per cent confident because everybody is always pushing, so we have to always be alert and push to the maximum to see how we can perform better and better every time.”

Finishing with the fifth fastest time of the afternoon was the Six boat of Tomaso Polli and Matteo Nicolini, who claimed victory in the last XCAT race they contested in Italy — in Arona last year — and who are currently third in the overall series standings.

“It’s very dark out there and you can’t read the sea conditions very well,” Nicolini said.

“When you reach the turn after the straight line, there are big waves out there. I think there are waves from the big ships that are passing. We did an incredible jump on that — coming back and jumping on the back of it as well, so it’s very, very tricky but I’m happy we managed it.

“I think the championship is still open. We have five more venues and in these venues anything can happen. The important thing is to finish in a good position and we’re looking to have a good race on Sunday for sure to be able to maintain our place in the top three.”

The Napoli Grand Prix, which will be attended by football legend Diego Maradona, who spent much of his playing career in Naples, will begin at 3.30pm on Sunday.