Team Abu Dhabi 5’s crew of Faleh Al-Mansoori and Rashed Al-Tayer endured mixed fortunes in the opening two races in Fujairah and Dubai meaning they occupy seventh spot.
The crew qualified on pole for race one but were forced to retire from the race proper with engine issues before climbing from fifth to second in Dubai.
Both Al-Mansoori and Al-Tayer and other X-Cat team members from the Abu Dhabi International Marine Sports Club (ADIMSC) have now arrived in Switzerland.
And Al-Tayer is confident of climbing up the leaderboard when race weekend gets underway on Saturday at the stunning Lake Lugano.
“We had some challenging water conditions at the opening two rounds in the UAE and were obviously disappointed with our one result after setting a competitive pace at both races,” said Al-Tayer.
“Lugano is an inland lake course, surrounded by mountains, and we can hopefully expect some calm water conditions and little wind.
“We know that we have to push and try and get pole position and press for the win. The boats will have a different set-up and the strategy may be different but the goal is still the same.”
Victory Team’s Arif Saif Al-Zafeen and Nadir bin Hendi tasted victory in the opening two rounds and have surged into an early season 31-point lead over Swecat Racing, with Dubai a further four points behind.
Elsewhere, it’s been a disappointing start for Team Abu Dhabi 4’s Rashed Al-Qamzi and Majed Al-Mansoori and they will not make the trip to Lugano.
Team Abu Dhabi, like many of the other 11 entrants at the Swiss race, have already made the successful transition to the new four-stroke Mercury XCAT ROS 400 engines which were introduced by race officials at the start of the season.
Several members of the team have extensive experience of racing at similar venues in Italy, such as Lake Como and Lake Maggiore, and their advice may well be invaluable to the crew of Team Abu Dhabi 5 this weekend.
Free practice, pole position qualifying and the Dubai Duty Free Speed Cat Runs will take place on Saturday and further practice and the inaugural Lugano Grand Prix will take centre stage the following day.
