Amazing debut for the new Maritimo boat, but the first win of the season is for Abu Dhabi 4

Amazing debut for the new Maritimo boat, but the first win of the season is for Abu Dhabi 4

UIM XCAT World Championship: the first win is for Abu Dhabi 4

Sport

22/07/2019 - 14:20

The Stresa GP, first stage of the 2019 UIM XCAT World Championship, starts with both new and expected results. The surprise is the pole position from Tom Barry Cotter and Ross Willaton of Team Maritimo, while the confirmation is the victory in race 1 by Shaun Torrente and Faleh al Mansoori on Abu Dhabi 4.

Maritimo's pole position can be deemed a surprise because their catamaran is a brand new boat, built down under in Gold Coast by Maritimo Racing (owned and run by Barry Cotter family): this is the very first competition which this boat takes part in.

As for the race, the first of the two to be held in Stresa on lake Maggiore this weekend, the victory goes to Abu Dhabi 4, a confirmation for the 2018 XCAT World Champions.

Amazing debut for the new Maritimo boat, but the first win of the season is for Abu Dhabi 4
Amazing debut for the new Maritimo boat, but the first win of the season is for Abu Dhabi 4

At the moment of the green flag, the Aussie duo of Maritimo misses the right instant and drops down to fourth, while a perfect start from Shaun Torrente at the throttle and Faleh al Mansoori at the helm takes them into the lead, with Dubai Police (Arif al Zaffein and Nadir bin Hendi) and Team Australia (Pål Virik Nilsen and Jan Trygve Braten) to follow.

From that moment the Emirati crew has clear water and can consolidate their advantage, while the battle is among the rest of the pack. When Abu Dhabi 4 take their first long lap, Dubai 3 follow them straight away, to copy their strategy and not lose any ground.

Meanwhile the battle between Team Australia third and Maritimo fourth (the gap is less than three seconds) is about long laps as well, and when both finish their mandatory ones is Maritimo to prove faster and “overtake” the Oz rivals.

Amazing debut for the new Maritimo boat, but the first win of the season is for Abu Dhabi 4
Amazing debut for the new Maritimo boat, but the first win of the season is for Abu Dhabi 4

It seems that the race could finish like this, but an unexpected twist changes the final: Al Zaffein and Bin Hendi go for their last long lap at the very end, as they still have enough advantage on Maritimo, but all of a sudden one engine of Dubai Police stops no less than two times, and the second position at the checkered flag is for Tom Barry Cotter and Ross Willaton. A pity for their bad start, but a great success in terms of having run a whole new boat, completely different from the others in the pack, for the first time in a competition.

As for the pole position, the first 45 minutes (Q1) had all the 13 boats participating, with the target to get into the top five and run the Q2.
Maritimo scored an amazing 2.24.461 at an average speed of 88 miles per hour. We're talking about average speed, as in the long straights the top figure can exceed 120 mph.

The following spots are for 222 Offshore (Giovanni Carpitella and Darren Nicholson), Abu Dhabi 4, Team Australia, and Dubai Police.

Amazing debut for the new Maritimo boat, but the first win of the season is for Abu Dhabi 4
Amazing debut for the new Maritimo boat, but the first win of the season is for Abu Dhabi 4

These five teams get into Q2 for a last 20-minute session, with just two consecutive timed laps at their disposal to score the pole. In the end, the two Oz teams are the fastest, followed by Abu Dhabi 4, Dubai Police and 222 Offshore.

Being this the first race of the season, the overall ranking is now led by Abu Dhabi 4 with Shaun Torrente and Faleh al Mansoori.

As usual the city of Stresa and Lake Maggiore confirm their passion for XCAT and powerboating, with thousands of people following pole and race from the lake shores, and cheering the drivers in their amazing performances.

Race 2 is scheduled for Sunday at 5.20 pm CET.

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