2015 Qatar Cup
Doha Bay, Qatar – February 3-7, 2015
For immediate release
Thursday, February 5th, 2015
QATAR’S AL-NEAMA AND AL-NASSER FINISH FIRST AND FOURTH
IN SUPERCAT AND SUPERCAT LITE OPENERS AT UIM QATAR CUP
· Victory Team’s Al-Zafeen and Bin Hendi win first SuperCat Lite race
· SuperVee and SuperCat success for Outerlimits and Spirit of Qatar
· EFE Project claims pole position for UIM World Offshore 225 race
· C1 and C2 wins for Mohammed Turki Jumaa and Ahmed Al-Fassam
DOHA (Qatar): Respective race one victories in the SuperCat Lite, SuperVee and SuperCat categories at the inaugural UIM Qatar Cup fell to Victory S-3, Outerlimits and Spirit of Qatar 20 in Doha Bay on Thursday afternoon.
Qatar’s Mohammed and Nasser Al-Nasser reached the chequered flag in fourth position in their Supercat Lite race, but Ali Al-Neama and Billy Moore were in superb form to win the SuperCat race.
Victory S-3’s Arif Saif Al-Zafeen and Nadir bin Hendi qualified on pole for the 10-lap SuperCat Lite race and managed to fend off a strong field to pass the chequered flag seven seconds ahead of eventual race runners-up, Robert Nunziato and Dan Lawrence, in The Hulk.
Team Abu Dhabi’s Faleh Al-Mansoori and Rashed Al-Tayer qualified third and rounded off the podium positions, while Mohammed and Nasser Al-Nasser climbed from fifth – at the expense of Grant Bruggemann and Gary Ballough in Smart Marine – to snatch fourth place. LA Marine retired on the last lap and Smart Marine succumbed one lap before.
Spirit of Qatar 20’s Ali Al-Neama and Billy Moore had claimed pole for the SuperCat race on Wednesday and they were not to be denied an emphatic victory on home waters. They brought their MTi to the finish of the 12-lap race 16 seconds in front of the Outerlimits crew of Joe Sgro and Steve Curtis – the winners of the SuperVee category.
The Kiwi crew of Wayne Valden and Chris Hanley were third in Pro Floors Racing and Jay Cooke and Randy Sweers were fourth. Twisted Metal’s Brett Furshman and Billy Glueck retired on lap six.
Pole Position qualifying for Saturday’s Qatar round of the 2015 UIM World Offshore 225 Championship took place at lunchtime on Doha Bay. EFE Project topped the times with a quickest lap of 1min 57.671sec. Bigchefs-EFE Project qualified second albeit over two seconds behind.
The first C1 and C2 races for an impressive array of Qatari. Kuwaiti and Bahraini teams took place on Thursday morning on the shorter Inshore course.
Ten laps were on the agenda for the C1 fleet and Kuwait’s Mohammed Turki Jumaa snatched a 3.12 second victory from Qatar’s Jassim Abdullah Al-Buainain. An impressive 10 boats took the start and Kuwait’s Khaled Ahmed Al-Hassan rounded off the podium.
Six C2 boats ran for nine laps in their opening race and the Kuwaiti Ahmed Sulaiman Al-Fassam reached the chequered flag with a margin of just under six seconds from fellow countryman Ahmed Fouad Abul. Qatar’s Rashid Al-Muhannadi was third.
Tomorrow (Friday), is a more relaxed day for the international crews and the local aqua bike racers take centre stage in front of the pit area. After a briefing and technical checks, the Pro Marathon competitors have a 30-minute practice session from 1pm, before their race starts at 1.45pm.
Both the Inshore and Offshore courses are then open for afternoon testing for the remainder of the UIM Qatar Cup field.
2015 Qatar Cup – Race 1 results (Thursday):
SuperCat Lite/Super Stock
1. Nadir Bin Hendi (ARE)/Arif Saif Al-Zafeen (ARE) Victory S-3 34min 07.2sec
2. Robert Nunziato (USA)/Dan Lawrence (USA) The Hulk S-1 34min 14.6sec
3. Faleh Al-Mansoori (ARE)/Rashed Al-Tayer (ARE) Team Abu Dhabi 5 35min 13.8sec
4. Mohammed Al-Nasser (QAT)/Nasser Al-Nasser (QAT) Spirit of Qatar 94 35min 16.2sec
5. Lynn Wagemann (USA)/Jay Muller (USA) Wicked Performance Marine S-33 36min 31.0sec
6. Tanner Lewis (USA)/Ryan Beckley (USA) Peters & May Racing S-111 37min 15.5sec
Allen Christy (USA)/Lee Austin (USA) LA Marine S-12 DNF
Grant Bruggeman (USA)/Gary Ballough (USA) Smart Marine/Auto Mart S-110 DNF
SuperVee
1. Joe Sgro (USA)/Steve Curtis (GBR) Outerlimits 43 38min 07.8sec
Brett Furshman (USA)/Billy Glueck (USA) Twisted Metal 30 DNF
SuperCat
1. Ali Al-Neama (QAT)/Billy Moore (USA) Spirit of Qatar 20 37min 51.9sec
2. Wayne Valder (NZL)/Chris Hanley (NZL) Pro Floors Racing 51 38min 27.5sec
3. Jay Cooke (USA)/Randy Sweers (USA) Racing for Cancer/Fast Boats 33 38min 29.9sec
4. Dan Lawrence (USA)/Ron Roman (USA) Motley Crew 00 39min 39.6sec
5. George Stancombe (USA)/Michael Stancombe (USA) Peppers/Peters & May 2 39min 50.3sec
6. Paul Boudreaux (USA)/Jay Price (USA) Thorndon/Ragin Cajun 57 40min 34.2sec
C1
1. Mohammed Turki Jumaa/Mohammed Saud Alrzaihan (KUW) 42min 28.30sec
2. Jassim Abdullah Al-Buainain/Hassan Nasser Al-Buainain (QAT) 42min 31.42sec
3. Khaled Ahmed Al-Hassan/Hamad Youssef Al-Sharah (KUW) 43min 19.10sec
4. Abdullah Youssef Mohammed/Abdullatif Al-Omani (KWT) 43min 52.93sec
5. Sultan Saqer Ibrahim/Abdulrahman Jassim Addulrahman (BHN) 44min 12.15sec
6. Abdulaziz Ghuloom Shaheen/Mohammed Ghuloom Shaheen (QAT) 44min 35.43sec
7. Khalid Ali Ayadeh/Mohammed Ali Ayadeh (KUW) 44min 37.68sec
8. Saad Turki Mohammed/Shaalan Zaid Al-Temeeni (KUW) 44min 39.59sec
9. Mahmoud Ali Rashid/Mohammed Akbar Haidar (QAT) 46min 32.65sec
Ahmed Sulaiman Al-Fassam/Nasser Bader Al-Fassam (KUW) DNF
C2
1. Ahmed Sulaiman Al-Fassam/Nasser Bader Al-Fassam (KUW) 28min 31.98sec
2. Ahmed Fouad Abul/Abdullatif Mohammed Al-Omani (KUW) 28min 37.77sec
3. Rashid Al-Muhannadi/Mohammed Jassim Al-Harkan (QAT) 28min 59.98sec
4. Hamad Youssef Al-Sharah/Abdulrazak Ahmed Al-Hassan (KUW) 31min 04.80sec
5. Nasser Khalifa Mulhem/Kabeer Malikat (QAT) 31min 33.25sec
6. Khaled Rashid Al-Muhannadi/Mohammed Saif Al-Kuwari (QAT) 32min 12.12sec
UIM World Offshore 225 Championship – Pole Position result
1. EFE Project 1min 57.461sec
2. Bigchefs – EFE Project 2min 01.370sec
3. Beşiktaş – Işiklar 2min 01.805sec
4. S.T.F.A. 2min 06.953sec
5. Big Chefs 2min 06.953sec
6. Gisbir 2min 11.665sec
7. Qatar 2min 11.898sec
8. Işiklar 2min 11.945sec
9. Fujairah Team 2min 15.814sec
2015 Qatar Cup – revised timetable of events
Friday, February 6
13.00 – 13.30 Practice Pro Marathon
13.45 – 14.15 Pro Marathon Race
14.30 – 16.30 Inshore and Offshore testing
Ends
For further information:
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