Fazza set best time in practice session

Third heat of X-Cat World Series to be held at ADIMSC today Abu Dhabi Mohammed Al Marri and Arif Saif Al Zaffain led Fazza to a blistering run to with the fastest time at the end of official practice before the third heat of the 2012 UIM X-CAT World Series scheduled to be held at the Abu Dhabi International Marine Sports Club (ADIMSC) on Thursday. The pair of Al Marri and Al Zaffain was timed at 3 minutes, 11.47 seconds, with a healthy lead of more than six seconds from the Swiss-American pairing of Omar Danial and Gary Ballough in their boat Mouawed in a time of 3:17.12. The Spirit of Abu Dhabi boat with Rashid Suhail Al Tayer as driver and Ahmad Mohammad Hassan as the throttleman came in third best with a time of 3:20.74 followed by the Abu Dhabi Racing Team of American driver Scott Gillman and Ahmad Ali Al Hameli in fourth place in a time of 3:21.95. The Sky Dive Dubai team of Eisa Al Ali and Juma Mattar Al Mazroui, who did not start the first round held in January last month, clocked the fifth best time of 3:23.31 followed by Extreme Marine and Raheeb from Kuwait. Today’s Pole Position run will be held from 10 am till 11.30 am, while the race will start at 3 pm followed immediately by the prize presentation. The third heat of the X-Cat Series that was to be held at the Dubai International Marine Club (DIMC) last weekend had to be postponed for April 6-7 due to rough weather. “The teams are enjoying the full facilities at the ADIMSC that were set up for last year’s Volvo Ocean Sailing. Everyone is being looked after well and that is bound the set the stage for some exciting racing on Thursday,” said Sid Bensaleh from the race organizers. After the first two rounds of racing held in Dubai and Abu Dhabi in January, the Qatar Team of Mohammed Al Nasser and Hamad Jassim Mohammed is at the top of the overall standings with 600 points, followed by the Swiss-American duo of Omar Danial and Gary Ballough in their boat Mouawed with 450 points. The UAE’s Extreme Marine pairing of Rashid Khalifa Al Marri and Salim Fadhel Al Hamli is in third overall with 422 points, while Fazza’s Mohammed Al Marri and Arif Al Zaffain - the winners of the opening round in Dubai - are in fourth overall with 417 points and Spirit of Abu Dhabi in fifth position with 191 points. The fourth and penultimate round of the championship will now be held at the DIMC on April 6-7 followed by the final round at the Fujairah International Marine Club on April 12-13.