Dream run for local heroes in race for Emaar Pole Position

24 May 2014, Naples, Italy – Naples team, Cantiere Postiglione, gave the local crowd plenty to get excited about when they edged out current Series leaders Fazza to take Pole Position for tomorrow’s Napoli Grand Prix.

Cantiere Postiglione on their way to a fastest lap of 2:38.10.

Alfredo Amato and Marco Pennesi are set to start the race in top spot after recording the fastest lap of the day, 2:38.10, in the race for Emaar Pole Position. Fazza’s Arif Al Zaffain and Nadir Bin Hendi, who are racing in a new boat this weekend, finished just .80 of a second off in 2:38.90. A thrilled Amato explained: “30 minutes before the race I took my rib out to feel what my sea told me. I listened to it and now we got pole position. “I had a dream three or four years ago about beating victory and I defeated them in Class 1. Then for the last week, I have been dreaming about being first in Napoli and here we are,” he added. “Tomorrow it will tough but I hope I have another dream tonight.” Meanwhile, finishing with the third quickest time of the afternoon was the Dubai duo of Sultan Al Dhaheri and Jay Price, who completed a lap in 2:40.35 before flipping their boat on their fourth lap. They’ll be in a race against time to repair the boat in time for tomorrow’s race.

Price explained: “Both my driver and I are ok. We got out of the cockpit unscathed – a little wet but that’s all. The water conditions out there were rough. We made a decent qualifying time and we decided we couldn’t go any faster, as rough as the water had become, so we decided to try a race set-up and lose some weight. But apparently we didn’t have the right race set-up. “It happened at the first set of turns after the start-finish line. On the third pin, we got the bough up high and hit some rollers and as we did, the tail came around and we couldn’t recover from it. Speaking about whether or not the boat will be ready for tomorrow’s main race, the American added: “They’re working really hard. We’ve got a good crew. If we have all the parts we need, we’ll be in the water tomorrow.” The Dubai Duty Free Speed Cat Run in set to be contested later on Saturday afternoon, while the main race, the Napoli GP, will take place on Sunday at 3.30pm. Taking in the action will be Argentinean football legend, and former Naples resident, Diego Maradona. “Maradona is known worldwide – I think he’s even more famous than the president here in Italy – they love him a lot,” reckoned Fazza’s Bin Hendi. “Even when we reached the airport, everyone was talking about Maradona. They are so happy that he is coming. It’s going to make the race great with so many spectators. It’s a good thing for the sport and we’re really looking forward to it,” he added.