Qatar Team win Speed Cat Run

Dubai Fazza will start off from pole position in today’s race, but it was the Qatar Team that hogged the limelight after winning the first-ever Speed Cat Run held alongside the penultimate heat of the 2012 UIM X-Cat World Series at the Dubai International Marine Club on Friday evening. The Fazza pair of Arif Al Zafeen and Moahmmed Al Marri was timed at 2 mins, 58.76 secs to ensure they kept up their hot pursuit of overall leaders Qatar Team with Mohammed Al Nasr and Hamad Jassim Mohammed at the helm. The Abu Dhabi Racing Team of American driver Scott Gillman and Ahmed Ali Al Hamli was second best, while the Mouawad pairing of Omar Daniel and Gary Ballough finished with the third best lap timing. But later in the evening, it was the Qatar Team of Al Nasr and Mohammed who registered their name as the inaugural winners of the Speed Cat Run that has been introduced to bring in added excitement for spectators and media attending powerboat racing. With the Fazza boat opting out of the Speed Cat Run, it was left up to the Qatar Team to lead the rest of the field. And they proved they were fastest on the 800-metre straight course set in front of Le Meridien Mina Seyahi Hotel leaving Gillman and Al Hamli in second with their Abu Dhabi Racing Team boat. Mohammed Al Ayali, Saeed Al Tayer, Ali Bin Ghulaitha and Huraiz Bin Huraiz, all members of the board of directors at DIMC presented the trophies to the winners at the end of the event. The Speed Cat Run is a new concept introduced in X-Cat racing. Framed with the same rules as drag racing in motorsport, the Speed Cat Run pits two boats against each other on a straight course, with the winner advancing to the next round. “All the teams involved in the Speed Cat Run have shown their enthusiasm for this sort of racing and we are keen to make this a permanent feature of every X-Cat race from next season,” said Sid Bensalah, the X-Cat World Series Championship Officer. Today’s action will get started at 2.45 pm with the parade of the boats and the actual race will be held from 3 pm off the Mina Seyahi waters of the DIMC. Entry is free to public. Results of the Speed Cat Run held off the Mina Seyahi Waters of DIMC on Saturday: 1. Qatar Team (Mohammed Al Nasr and Hamad Jassim Mohammed); 2. Abu Dhabi Racing Team (Scott Gillman and Ahmed Ali Al Hamli); 3. Extreme Marine (Rashid Suhail Al Tayer and Ahmed Mohammed Al Suwaidi).