MEDIA INFORMATION
UIM F2 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Grand Prix of Denmark – Aalborg, June 15-17
TEAM ABU DHABI’S RASHED AL-QEMZI SKIPS LONDON RACE TO MAINTAIN DEFENCE OF F2 TITLE IN DENMARK
· Rashed Al-Tayer to drive second Team Abu Dhabi boat in Aalborg
AALBORG (DENMARK): Tuesday, June 12: Team Abu Dhabi’s Rashed Al-Qemzi misses out on his chance to shine in Sunday’s new UIM F1 H2O Grand Prix of London to take part in this weekend’s Grand Prix of Denmark, the second round of the UIM F2 World Championship, that has been arranged for the same weekend.
Al-Qemzi, who clinched the prestigious F2 title last year in Portugal, teams up with Rashed Al-Tayer for the weekend’s race that is being staged on Limfjord between the two parts of the city of Aalborg. Aalborg lies to the south of the fjord and Nørresundby lies to the north.
The Emiratis endured mixed fortunes at the first round of the well-supported F2 series in Kaunas, Lithuania, last month. Al-Qemzi finished fourth behind Italy’s Alberto Comparato, local driver Edgaras Riabko and Germany’s Stefan Hagin to claim nine valuable championship points. Al-Tayer on the other hand, was running strongly and setting impressive lap times, but he crashed out of the race and failed to pick up any points from a series opener that saw 28 boats battling for supremacy on Kaunas Reservoir.
With Sweden’s Mette Bjerknaes and Portugal’s Duarte Benavente missing the Danish race to take part in the F1 H2O round in London and Italy’s Ivan Brigada and David Del Pin also reportedly absent, the door is open for the likes of Comparato, Riabko, Hagin and Norway’s Tobias Munthe-Kaas to challenge the Team Abu Dhabi duo for the podium places on the Limfjord course.
Spaniard Héctor Sanz crashed heavily at the last round and visited the DAC factory in Italy en route from Riba Roja d’Ebre in Catalunya to Denmark to collect his rebuilt boat this week. Along with the likes of American Brent Dillard, the Swedish trio of Daniel Segenmark, Oskar Samuelsson and Johan Österberg, Norway’s Frode Sundsdal and the Victory Team’s Mansoor Al-Mansoori, Sanz will be hoping to kick-start his campaign with a top finish in what promises to be a thrilling spectacle on Danish waters.
“I made a solid start in Lithuania and managed to put some points on the board,” said Team Abu Dhabi’s Al-Qemzi. “There is a big field of boats this year and it is important to get the right set-up quickly and deliver a good performance in qualifying. Drivers are very closely matched and any small mistake can be costly.”
Etihad Airways is the official carrier for Team Abu Dhabi that is also supported by the Abu Dhabi Sports Council and runs under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan Bin Khalifa Al-Nahyan, advisor to the Head of State and chairman of the board of directors of the Abu Dhabi International Marine Sports Club and under the guidance of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Sultan Bin Khalifa Al-Nahyan, Vice-President and CEO of the ADIMSC. The racing team runs under the auspices of the ADIMSC and board member and general manager Salem Al-Remeithi and team manager Guido Cappellini.
The weekend’s racing is being organised by Dansk Racerbåds Klub in association with the Danmarks Motor Union (DMU) and Powerboat Denmark on a seven-pin, 1.94km course.
Aalborg is a city in the Jutland region of Denmark and the fourth largest in the country with a population of over 136,000 including 22,000 in the twin city of Nørresundby, 600 metres across the fjord. The city is situated 118km north of Aarhus and 412km from the capital city of Copenhagen.
Free practice gets the weekend’s action underway from 15.15hrs on Friday afternoon (June 15) and that precedes the traditional Match Race at 17.30hrs. Further free practice will be permitted on Saturday morning before the all-important qualifying session starts at 14.00hrs for the first of two groups of boats.
There will be further warm-up laps available on Sunday morning , prior to a Repecharge race, and the Grand Prix of Denmark is scheduled for 13.15hrs, so as not to clash with the UIM F1 H20 Grand Prix of London.
2018 UIM F2 World Championship – positions after round 1:
1. Alberto Comparato (ITA) 20pts
2. Edgaras Riabko (LIT) 15pts
3. Stefan Hagin (DEU) 12pts
4. Rashed Al-Qemzi (UAE) 9pts
5. Tobias Munthe-Kaas (NOR) 7pts
6. Brent Dillard (USA) 5pts
7. Daniel Segenmark (SWE) 4pts
8. Duarte Benavente (PRT) 3pts
9. Oskar Samuelsson (SWE) 2pts
10. Mette Bjerknaes (SWE) 1pt
– Ends –
For further media information and information about Team Abu Dhabi:
Please contact: Khalid Al Saadi, Media Incharge, Abu Dhabi International Marine Sports Club, P.O. Box 45656, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Mobile Telephone: + 971 50 768 6761, E-mail: alsaadi@adimsc.ae.
www.adimsc.ae
www.f2worldchamp.com