2015 UIM Qatar Cup

Doha Bay, Qatar – February 3-7, 2015

For immediate release
Saturday, February 7th, 2015

QATAR’S AL-NEAMA AND AL-NASSER FINISH THIRD AND FIFTH
IN SECOND QATAR CUP SUPERCAT AND SUPERCAT LITE RACES

· Victory’s Al-Zafeen and Bin Hendi control second SuperCat Lite race
· SuperVee and SuperCat wins for Outerlimits and Racing for Cancer
· UIM World Offshore 225 race and pole double for EFE Project
· Race two C1 and C2 wins in Qatar for Al-Buainain and Fouad Abdul

DOHA (Qatar): Dubai’s Victory S-3, Racing for Cancer and Outerlimits claimed victories in the SuperCar Lite, SuperCat and SuperVee categories in their second races at the inaugural UIM Qatar Cup in Doha Bay on Saturday.

Victory S-3’s Arif Saif Al-Zafeen and Nadir bin Hendi were the class of the SuperCat Lite field and reached the chequered flag 9.4 seconds in front of Robert Nunziato and Dan Lawrence in The Hulk. Team Abu Dhabi’s Faleh Al-Mansoori and Rashed Al-Tayer were a further 40 seconds adrift and rounded off the podium places. Mohammed and Nasser Al-Nasser finished fifth in Spirit of Qatar 94.

The Pro Floors Racing crew of Wayne Valder and Chris Hanley looked likely to win a thrilling SuperCat race after leading from lap eight to lap 11. A fierce battle waged between Pro Floors Racing, long-time leaders Motley Crew and Racing for Cancer and the Kiwis were deprived of the win after being overtaken by Racing for Cancer’s Jay Cooke and Randy Sweers on lap 12. Motley Crew later retired.

The Kiwis eventually finished 17 seconds behind their American rivals. Spirit of Qatar 20’s Ali Al-Neama and Billy Moore led on lap one before slipping down to fifth and then climbing back to third.

Joe Sgro and Steve Curtis were never troubled on their way to a comfortable second successive success in the SuperVee category, once Twisted Metal gave up the ghost. They stopped on the last lap, although they had been ahead of four of their SuperCat rivals before failing to reach the chequered flag.

SuperCat Lite – race two

Al-Zafeen and Bin Hendi led from the start of the 12-lap SuperCat Lite race and had already edged into a four-second lead over The Hulk by the end of lap one. Both LA Marine and Smart Marine were sidelined, as The Hulk and Team Abu Dhabi gave chase over the subsequent laps.

By lap six, Victory’s advantage over Robert Nunziato and Dan Lawrence in The Hulk was a constant five seconds, with Team Abu Dhabi’s Falah Al-Mansoori and Rashid Al-Tayer in third, Wicked Performance Marine in fourth and Peters & May heading Spirit of Qatar 94 in fifth.

Al-Zafeen and Bin Hendi continued to apply the pressure at the head of the field, as the S-3 boat and The Hulk began to edge away from Team Abu Dhabi. Wicked Performance Marine moved well clear of Spirit of Qatar, although Mohammed Al-Nasser managed to pass Peters & May on lap eight and claim fifth place – a position they held to the chequered flag.

SuperVee and SuperCat – race two

Six SuperCat and two SuperVee boats lined up at the start of the 14-lap race, with the crews of Spirit of Qatar 20 and Outerlimits hoping for a second successive win on Doha Bay.

Al-Neama and Moore made a superb start for the host nation and held a one-second advantage over Jay Cooke and Randy Sweers in Racing for Cancer after one lap. SuperVee class leaders Joe Sgro and Steve Curtis were third in Outerlimits.

But Al-Neama’s luck ran out on the next lap and the Qatar boat slipped to fifth, as Motley Crew took up the running from the Kiwi crew of Wayne Valder and Chris Hanley in Pro Floors Racing. They were overtaken by Peppers/Peters & May Racing, as Motley Crew entered the fourth lap of a fascinating contest with a 3.6-second lead.

As Pro Floors regained second from Peters & May, Spirit of Qatar slipped behind Outerlimits, but remained well clear of Paul Boudreaux and Jay Price in Thordon.

By lap seven, there was a mere seven-tenths of a second between Motley Crew and Pro Floors Racing, with Peters & May in third. But the race was far from over and Pro Floors moved in front, as a retiring Motley Crew and Peters & May fell behind Racing for Cancer over the closing stages.

EFE Project qualified on pole position for the Qatar round of the UIM World Offshore 225 Championship and provisionally claimed maximum points for winning the race as well. The boat finished clear of the second-placed Spirit of Qatar 18 boat, which also claimed points for second position at the race meeting after qualifying in seventh place. Final results were delayed until UIM officials had carried out eligibility checks on the ECU units in the boats.

The UIM Qatar Cup was organised by the Qatar Marine Sports Federation (QMSF) in conjunction with Offshore Powerboat Grand Prix (OPGP).

“I would like to extend a big thanks to everyone at OPGP, the QMSF and all our visiting guests who made the inaugural UIM Qatar Cup such a successful event,” said His Excellency Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor Al-Thani, president of the QMSF. “We were blessed with exciting and close competition and strong fields in all the regional and international racing categories.

Six boats again contested the second 11-lap C2 race on the Inshore course and the leading protagonists from the opening race swapped positions on this occasion, with Kuwait’s Ahmed Fouad Abdul getting the better of race one winner and fellow countryman Ahmed Sulaiman Al-Fassam. Qatar’s Rashid Al-Muhannadi rounded off the podium places in third.

A similar scenario unfolded in the nine-lap C1 contest with race one winner Mohammed Turki Jumaa of Kuwait finishing second on this occasion to race one runner-up Jassim Abdullah Al-Buanain of Qatar. Kuwait’s Khalad Ali Ayadeh was third and fellow Kuwaiti Abdullah Youssef Mohammed was fourth. Three of the 10 starters failed to finish.

2015 UIM Qatar Cup – Race 2 results (Saturday):

SuperVee
1. Joe Sgro (USA)/Steve Curtis (GBR) Outerlimits 43 DNF
Brett Furshman (USA)/Billy Glueck (USA) Twisted Metal 30 DNS

SuperCat
1. Jay Cooke (USA)/Randy Sweers (USA) Racing for Cancer/Fast Boats 33 44min 05.8sec
2. Wayne Valder (NZL)/Chris Hanley (NZL) Pro Floors Racing 51 44min 22.8sec
3. Ali Al-Neama (QAT)/Billy Moore (USA) Spirit of Qatar 20 44min 24.0sec
4. George Stancombe (USA)/Michael Stancombe (USA) Peppers/Peters & May 2 45min 18.1sec
5. Paul Boudreaux (USA)/Jay Price (USA) Thorndon/Ragin Cajun 57 DNF
6. Dan Lawrence (USA)/Ron Roman (USA) Motley Crew 00 DNF

SuperCat Lite
1. Nadir Bin Hendi (ARE)/Arif Saif Al-Zafeen (ARE) Victory S-3 40min 34.1sec
2. Robert Nunziato (USA)/Dan Lawrence (USA) The Hulk S-1 40min 43.5sec
3. Faleh Al-Mansoori (ARE)/Rashed Al-Tayer (ARE) Team Abu Dhabi 5 41min 15.0sec
4. Lynn Wagemann (USA)/Jay Muller (USA) Wicked Performance Marine S-33 43min 00.8sec
5. Mohammed Al-Nasser (QAT)/Nasser Al-Nasser (QAT) Spirit of Qatar 94 43min 39.0sec
6. Tanner Lewis (USA)/Ryan Beckley (USA) Peters & May Racing S-111 44min 26.8sec
Grant Bruggeman (USA)/Gary Ballough (USA) Smart Marine/Auto Mart S-110 DNF
Allen Christy (USA)/Lee Austin (USA) LA Marine S-12 DNF

C1
1. Jassim Abdullah Al-Buainain/Hassan Nasser Al-Buainain (QAT) 29min 15.91sec
2. Mohammed Turki Jumaa/Mohammed Saud Alrzaihan (KUW) 29min 22.15sec
3. Khalid Ali Ayadeh/Mohammed Ali Ayadeh (KUW) 30min 02.98sec
4. Abdullah Youssef Mohammed/Abdullatif Al-Omani (KWT) 30min 22.49sec
5. Khaled Ahmed Al-Hassan/Hamad Youssef Al-Sharah (KUW) 30min 41.49sec
6. Abdulaziz Ghuloom Shaheen/Mohammed Ghuloom Shaheen (QAT) 30min 45.85sec
7. Saad Turki Mohammed/Shaalan Zaid Al-Temeeni (KUW) 30min 59.92sec
8. Sultan Saqer Ibrahim/Abdulrahman Jassim Addulrahman (BHN) DNF
9. Ahmed Sulaiman Al-Fassam/Nasser Bader Al-Fassam (KUW) DNF
10. Mahmoud Ali Rashid/Mohammed Akbar Haidar (QAT) DNF

C2
1. Ahmed Fouad Abul/Abdullatif Mohammed Al-Omani (KUW) 29min 55.65sec
2. Ahmed Sulaiman Al-Fassam/Nasser Bader Al-Fassam (KUW) 30min 05.52sec
3. Rashid Al-Muhannadi/Mohammed Jassim Al-Harkan (QAT) 31min 11.90sec
4. Hamad Youssef Al-Sharah/Abdulrazak Ahmed Al-Hassan (KUW) 1 lap behind
5. Nasser Khalifa Mulhem/Kabeer Malikat (QAT) 1 lap behind
6. Khaled Rashid Al-Muhannadi/Mohammed Saif Al-Kuwari (QAT) 1 lap behind

UIM World Offshore 225 Championship – results (provisional)
1. EFE Project 41min 34.085sec 220 pts
2. Qatar 42min 36.875sec 154 pts
3. Big Chefs 42min 44.925sec 127 pts
4. Gisbir 43min 24.923sec 95 pts
5. S.T.F.A. 42min 20.386sec 79 pts
6. Bigchefs – EFE Project 41min 38.781sec 65 pts
7. Işiklar 41min 56.518sec 43 pts
8. Beşiktaş – Işiklar 42min 00.000sec 42 pts
9. Fujairah Team 42min 00.000sec 22 pts

Ends

For further information:
Neil Perkins, NDP Publicity Services, Qatar Mobile: + 974 5529739, UK Mobile: + 44 7831 123153, E-mail: ndppublicity@googlemail.com, www.ndp-publicity.com (press releases). Twitter: @LordPerkins

www.qmsf.org Twitter: @QMSF_Qatar Facebook: QMSF Doha

www.offshorepowerboatgp.com

Published On: 7 February 2015