Team Abu Dhabi show promise in UIM F2 Championship

Sport360 staff 22:52 26/06/2016
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  • Making waves: Team Abu Dhabi.

    With most of the racing schedule put back to Sunday because of heavy rain, Abu Dhabi duo Rashed Al Qamzi and Mohammed Al Mehairbi were left with a busy timetable of racing at the stunning Italian enclave on Lake Lugano.

    They went on to reach the chequered flag in sixth and 14th positions respectively, with the race victory falling to Sweden’s Pierre Lundin.

    England’s Matt Palfreyman claimed second place ahead of Sweden’s Erik Edin who was a distant third.

    In overcast and gloomy conditions, Al Qamzi and Al Mehairbi lined up on the starting grid sixth and 20th in the Team Abu Dhabi No35 and 36 boats.

    Lundin of Sweden and Palfreyman made the early running from the front of the field, with Al Qamzi holding on to sixth while Al Mehairbi slipped back to 20th before impressively climbing back up to 15th.

    Lundin maintained a slender lead over Palfreyman at the front of the field and Edin overhauled Alberto Comparato to snatch third during the 45-lap race.

    At the halfway point Lundin led Palfreyman by just two seconds. After losing sixth place briefly, Al Qamzi had overtaken Stefan Hagin and retaken sixth, while Al Mehairbi also rose to 14th.

    There were no changes within the top 10 through 27 laps, although Lundin had extended his lead over Palfreyman and Nick Bisterfield snatched fourth place from Comparato on the next tour of the Lake Lugano course.

    Al Qamzi and Al Mehairbi held their grip on their spots with Stefan Hagin dropping out of the top 10.

    There was no late drama for Lundin who held on to take a wire to wire win from Palfreyman by an eventual margin of 10.5 seconds.

    “The weather interruption was unfortunate, but it was the same for everyone and it meant a lot of the racing was crammed into one day,” said Salem Al-Romaithi, assistant general manager of the Abu Dhabi International Marine Sports Club (ADIMSC).

    “It was a new experience for Rashed and Mohammed to follow on from the challenges they faced in Rouen. They both delivered excellent performances against a very strong field of European racers and this bodes extremely well for the future.”

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