Ben Mazur
05-23-2008, 12:17 PM
23/05/2008
VICTORY 1 QUICKEST IN FIRST PRACTICE
Friday, 23 May, BUDVA (Montenegro): Mohammed Al Marri showed all the qualities that carried him to the 2001 Class 1 World and the 2005 Class 1 Middle East titles, after setting the fastest time in today’s practice session with Nadir Bin Hendi in Victory 1.
Al Marri, back in the driver’s seat after a 15-month absence from Class 1 competition, to replace the injured defending Class 1 World and European Champion, Arif Al Zafeen, and Bin Hendi produced the best time of the afternoon on their sixth of seven laps, going quickest in 2m 29.75secs around the 4.06Nm course, over two seconds faster than rivals Qatar 95. "It is great that after spending very little time in the boat with Mohammed, we can go out and set the fastest time," said Nader Bin Hendi. "And I think with more time and trying different set-ups we can improve."
Behind Victory the Qatar boats enjoyed a close rivalry and exchanged times, with Qatar 95’s Matteo Nicolini and Abdullah Al-Sulaiti out pacing their team-mates, Sheikh Hassan and Steve Curtis in Qatar 96. "It was a good time. We have not done too much on the boat since the last race, just a small upgrade but it worked," said Nicolini. "The conditions were not bad, there is some big sea on the outside that makes you fly a little and you try to keep the boat in the water to keep the speed, and inside the bay it’s a little tight. But it’s a good circuit."
Despite being dropped to third quickest, Sheikh Hassan and Curtis, running their spare boat for the second consecutive race, but with their favoured Skema V12s, were satisfied with their time. "We’re getting there," said Curtis. "Today was more about dialing in the boat and trying different set-ups. We have some adjustments to make and I am sure we can improve on today’s times."
1. Victory 1 – M Al Marri (UAE) / N Bin Hendi (UAE) – 02.29,75
4. Qatar 95 - A Al-Sulaiti (Qatar) / Matteo Nicolini (Italy) – 02.32,28
2. Qatar 96 - H Al-Thani (Qatar) / S Curtis (England) – 02.32.50
3. Victory 7 – A Al Mehairbi (UAE) / JM Sanchez (France) – 02.39,14
5. Foresti & Suardi 8 – K Selmer (Norway) / G Montavoci (Italy) – 02.42,48
6. SeveneleveN 18- G Manuzzi (Italy) / N Giorgi (Italy) – 02.54,10
7. Roscioli Hotels Roma 88 – S Carrasco (Spain) / D Cirilli (Spain) – 03.06,20
Jotun 90 - B Jacobsen (Norway) / J Tandberg (Norway) - dns
VICTORY 1 QUICKEST IN FIRST PRACTICE
Friday, 23 May, BUDVA (Montenegro): Mohammed Al Marri showed all the qualities that carried him to the 2001 Class 1 World and the 2005 Class 1 Middle East titles, after setting the fastest time in today’s practice session with Nadir Bin Hendi in Victory 1.
Al Marri, back in the driver’s seat after a 15-month absence from Class 1 competition, to replace the injured defending Class 1 World and European Champion, Arif Al Zafeen, and Bin Hendi produced the best time of the afternoon on their sixth of seven laps, going quickest in 2m 29.75secs around the 4.06Nm course, over two seconds faster than rivals Qatar 95. "It is great that after spending very little time in the boat with Mohammed, we can go out and set the fastest time," said Nader Bin Hendi. "And I think with more time and trying different set-ups we can improve."
Behind Victory the Qatar boats enjoyed a close rivalry and exchanged times, with Qatar 95’s Matteo Nicolini and Abdullah Al-Sulaiti out pacing their team-mates, Sheikh Hassan and Steve Curtis in Qatar 96. "It was a good time. We have not done too much on the boat since the last race, just a small upgrade but it worked," said Nicolini. "The conditions were not bad, there is some big sea on the outside that makes you fly a little and you try to keep the boat in the water to keep the speed, and inside the bay it’s a little tight. But it’s a good circuit."
Despite being dropped to third quickest, Sheikh Hassan and Curtis, running their spare boat for the second consecutive race, but with their favoured Skema V12s, were satisfied with their time. "We’re getting there," said Curtis. "Today was more about dialing in the boat and trying different set-ups. We have some adjustments to make and I am sure we can improve on today’s times."
1. Victory 1 – M Al Marri (UAE) / N Bin Hendi (UAE) – 02.29,75
4. Qatar 95 - A Al-Sulaiti (Qatar) / Matteo Nicolini (Italy) – 02.32,28
2. Qatar 96 - H Al-Thani (Qatar) / S Curtis (England) – 02.32.50
3. Victory 7 – A Al Mehairbi (UAE) / JM Sanchez (France) – 02.39,14
5. Foresti & Suardi 8 – K Selmer (Norway) / G Montavoci (Italy) – 02.42,48
6. SeveneleveN 18- G Manuzzi (Italy) / N Giorgi (Italy) – 02.54,10
7. Roscioli Hotels Roma 88 – S Carrasco (Spain) / D Cirilli (Spain) – 03.06,20
Jotun 90 - B Jacobsen (Norway) / J Tandberg (Norway) - dns