Victory Team on pole for Russian Grand Prix

Moscow: Victory Team's World Championship leaders Nader Bin Hindi and Mohammad Al Merri will start the Class 1 Russian Grand Prix on Pole Position on Sunday after a storming performance in Moscow.

The UAE pairing who have won the first two rounds of the Class 1 World Powerboat Championship were again the dominant force when the nine-strong field took to the course for the pre-event EDOX Pole Position on Moscow's Khimki Reservoir..

Piloting Victory 1, throttleman Bin Hindi and driver Mohammad Al Merri were first on to the water and stunned their rivals with a blistering time of 2m:24.95s - more than three seconds quicker than their best time in practice.

Arch-rival and former world champion Steve Curtis had warned that Bin Hindi and Al Merri's dominance would be put to the test in Russia by Team Qatar.

Advantage

But Curtis and Shaikh Hassan Bin Jabor Al Thani were again left frustrated as their best run of 2m:25.7s in Qatar 96 failed to dent the Victory charge - despite being over a second quicker than their own best practice time.

There was more bad news for the Qatari team as the Norwegian pairing of Jorn Tandberg and Inge Aarbakke threw Jotun 90 around the 3.86Nm course in a personal best time of 2m:25.59s to snatch second and push Qatar 96 back into third place.

Fourth fastest over a course that will be a true test of handling was the Victory 7 pairing of Abdullah Al Mehairbi and Jean Marc Sanchez in 2m:28.01s.

Watched by Dr Musleh Ayed Alahbabi, Counselor and Charge d'Affaires from the UAE Embassy in Moscow, Bin Hindi and Al Merri were the stars of the day and will start today's 24-lap on the front row - a vital advantage on the tightest course on the calendar.

"This is definitely a driver's course," said Bin Hindi. "The chicane section is a key part of the race. If you lose your racing line through the chicane then you're going to lose a lot of time.

"Being on the front row is vital so we're delighted to be on pole - the race to the first turn buoy is very important as there are very few places to overtake. We know we can go even quicker."

Qatar 96 had been the fastest in pre-race testing but Shaikh Hassan and Curtis again found the Victory Team a tougher nut to crack when the competition began in earnest.

The pole win means that Bin Hindi and Al Merri now lead both the EDOX Pole Position Championship and the overall Class 1 World Championship going into today's Russian Grand Prix.

Results

1. Victory 1 - Al Merri/Bin Hindi (UAE) 2m:24.95s

2. Jotun 90 - Tandberg/Aarbakke (Nor) 2m:25.57s

3. Qatar 96 - Al Thani/Curtis (Q/UK) 2m:25.70s

4. Victory 7 - Al Mehairbi/Sanchez (Q/Fr) 2m:28.01s

5. Qatar 95 - Al Sulaiti/Nicolini (Q/I) 2m:28.14s.