Tight at the top as XCAT heads for final two races of 2015 season

9 November 2015, Dubai – With the fifth round of the 2015 UIM XCAT World Series just over a week away, teams are finalising their preparations for the best possible finish to the season.

After winning again at the Gold Coast GP in Australia in the last round, defending champions XDubai are still out in front in the race for the championship with 131 points and will be tough to beat on home waters. But lurking close behind are the Abu Dhabi team on 108 points. They’ll have the opportunity to finish the Series on their own home turf, with the final round of the season taking pace in the UAE capital just a week after the Dubai race.

Dubbed the greatest motorsport Series on water, the XCAT World Series truly is a spectacle of speed, with teams of two taking each other on in two-engined carbon-fibre boats that tear around the course at speeds close to 200km per hour.

Currently lying third overall on 103 points are the Italian team, Six, with Tomaso Polli and Matteo Nicolini certainly keen to fight to the finish with just five points between them and second spot.

And there are certainly no complaints from newbies to the Series, Swecat Racing. Erik Stark and Mikael Bengtsson have managed to climb to fourth overall with 69 points and will be looking for a good showing the final two races.

“The last two races will be incredibly exciting,” explained Team Manager Niklas Sjoo. “First and foremost, we will try to defend our fourth position, despite heavy pressure from the teams: Dubai, Yachts. Marine Investimenti Sud, T-Bone Station and Team Saracen Australia, who are all pushing hard.

“Anything can happen during the race, but above all we hope that everything works properly, and that we can finish both Dubai and Abu Dhabi races safely.

Mathematically, an overall podium place is not totally out of reach, but Sjoo remains realistic.

“It’s 14 extremely professional, strong teams competing in the XCAT World Series. We will do our best, and let the best team win,” he said.

Speaking about the season in general, he added: “First of all, we are proud to be one of those 14 strong teams in the XCAT World Series.

“As a brand new team, we have learnt a lot during 2015, that we will bring with us into 2016,
where our ambition is to perform better from a competitive perspective, media perspective as well as from a business perspective to highlight our sponsors and partners in the global XCAT World Series business platform.

“We are happy to see how much the World Series has improved during 2015, especially from a media perspective and in terms of TV coverage.

“We can always improve on everything, and the sky truly is the limit.”

The fourth round of the XCAT World Series takes place at the Dubai International Marine Club (DIMC) – Mina Seyahi from November 19-21 with the final showdown in Abu Dhabi from 25-27 November.

Entry for the general public is free of charge with plenty of fun activities on offer for the whole family – both on and off the water.