Speed Cat spoils for T-Bone Station while XDubai take one step closer to Series title

26 November 2023 - T-Bone Station’s Giovanni Carpitella and Darren Nicholson claimed Dubai Duty Free Speed Cat Run honours for the second time this season at the sixth and final round of the UIM XCAT Powerboat World Series in Abu Dhabi on Thursday.

The Italian team, who also bagged top spot in the head-to-head drag race-style contest in Australia in August, defeated current Series leaders XDubai (Arif Al Zaffain and Nadir Bin Hendi) in the final to take the title.

Despite settling for second place on Thursday, the XDubai duo have still managed to extend their lead at the top of the overall Series standings and are now five points ahead of second-placed Team Abu Dhabi (Rashed Al Tayer and Faleh Al Mansoori) heading into Friday’s decider – the Abu Dhabi GP. Team Abu Dhabi could only reach the second round on Thursday.

T-Bone Station made their way to the final by defeating Team Saracen Australia (Brett Luhrmann and Pal Virik Nilsen) in the first round before getting the better of Marine Investimenti Sud (Serafino Barlesi and Alessandro Barone) in the second. They then went on to beat the boat that will start Friday’s Abu Dhabi GP in Pole Position, Dubai (Salem Al Adidi and Eisa Al Ali), in the semifinal to book their final showdown with XDubai.

The action continues tomorrow with a tense finale on the cards as the teams take to the water for the final time this season. Should XDubai finish first or second, the Championship will be theirs but last weekend’s race in Dubai, where the UAE pair had to retire from the race with a gear case problem, has shown that anything is possible.

The Abu Dhabi GP takes place at 3.30pm on Friday.