March 28, 2010

Class 1 - Brazil Race 1 for Fazza 3

A phenomenal performance by Fazza 3 saw them leave the field behind to dominate from start-to-finish to win race 1 of the Brazilian Grand Prix, the opening round of 2010 UIM Class 1 World Powerboat Championship.
The defending world champions were uncatchable and put on a master class, to lead home the field by over 45 seconds. Teammates Fazza 1 made the most of a fantastic start to complete a Victory Team one-two, with Welmax completing the podium, finishing in third place.
Fazza 3’s Arif Al Zafeen and Nadir Bin Hendi followed up their Edox Pole Position win earlier in the day, with a performance of speed and skill that showcased to their rivals why they are world champions. The perfect start to the defence of their title was made by sealing victory over the 54.94Nm course in 35mins 44.56secs.
Mohammed Al Marri and Abdullah Al Mehairbi in Fazza 1, made a perfect start from third on the grid, passing Welmax to move into second place. From there they held off the challenge from the Norwegians and were rarely troubled as the pair claimed their first second place finish.
The all-Norwegian Welmax, piloted by Jorn Tandberg and Kolbjorn Selmer, were satisfied with the final podium place. A sluggish start saw them challenged early on by Team Abu Dhabi, who were a mere 0.16secs behind at the end of the start lap. However, after both outfits had run their long-laps, Welmax got ahead and streaked away to start closing in on Fazza 1, but despite their best efforts the Norwegians could not get close enough to make a move for second place, finishing 9.75secs behind.
Following disqualification from the Edox Pole Position, after setting the fourth fastest time, due to a weight-rule infringement, Duemme - Foresti & Suardi’s Giampaolo Montavoci and Guido Cappellini were forced to start from the back of the grid. A jump start then saw them penalised further with a long-lap penalty, after which they were running in fifth place. Another penalty long-lap, this time for Team Abu Dhabi for missing a turn buoy, allowed Montavoci and Cappellini to close the gap to just over five seconds. A fuel problem for Team Abu Dhabi’s Rashed Al Tayer and Nicola Giorgi, which prevented them from accelerating out of the corners, then allowed the experienced Montavoci and new partner Cappellini to overtake at the end of lap 12 and move them up into fourth place.
Welmax Alianza’s new pairing of Giorgio Manuzzi and Marit Stromoy followed up a solid performance in their first outing together in qualifying and despite a high-speed spin on lap seven, finished in sixth place ahead of Fabio Magnani and Marco Pennesi in Foresti & Suardi - Scam. A Fazza one-two bodes well for the team that swept all before them in 2009 and the challenge is now on for their rivals to see if they can split the Dubai-based team’s raceboats in race 2 of the Brazilian Grand Prix, tomorrow.
BRAZILIAN GRAND PRIX, RACE 1 - results
1. Fazza 3 - A Al Zafeen (UAE) / N Bin Hendi (UAE) - 35.44,56
2. Fazza 1 - A Al Mehairbi (UAE) / M Al Marri (UAE) + 45,45
3. Welmax - K Selmer (NOR) / J Tandberg (NOR) + 55,20
4. Duemme - Foresti & Suardi - G Cappellini (ITA) / G Montavoci (ITA) + 1.40,37
5. Team Abu Dhabi - R Al Tayer (UAE) / N Giorgi (ITA) + 1.51,76
6. Welmax Alianza - G Manuzzi (SMR) / M Stromoy (NOR) + 2.44,40
7. Foresti & Suardi - SCAM - F Magnani (ITA) / M Pennesi (ITA) + 1 lap

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