MEDIA INFORMATION

2015 UIM NATIONS CUP WORLD SERIES
Grand Prix of Qatar – March 9-11

TEAM RUSSIA SNATCH VICTORY IN UIM NATIONS CUP WORLD SERIES IN QATAR

Team UAE finish sixth in UIM Nations Cup World Series; Team Qatar in seventh
Sprint race victories for Team Russia’s Panyushkin and Team Belarussian Vandyshev
Team Italy’s Roberto Lo Piano somersaults out of first sprint race
Rashed Al-Qemzi fastest in morning practice for Team UAE

DOHA (QATAR): Wednesday, March 11: Team Russia’s Andrei Panyushkin and Konstantin Ustinov snatched a comfortable victory in the 2015 UIM Nations Cup World Series in Qatar after two thrilling sprint races on Doha Bay on Wednesday afternoon. The duo were first and fifth in the opening race and second and third in the second to confirm the victory from Team Belarus and Team Germany.

Team UAE’s Rashed Al-Qemzi was the sole entrant in the Emirati team on Wednesday and was impressive in both sprint races. In the first, he stormed through from the rear of the field to snatch third, but he was deprived of second overall in the second when he was penalised a lap and slipped to 10th after striking a turn buoy.

A thrilling three-way fight developed to the chequered flag in the first 22-lap sprint race and long-time leader Andrey Panyushkin of Team Russia managed to fend off a fierce challenge from Team Belarus driver Roman Vandyshev to take a 1.14-second victory even though he had been overtaken by the Belarussian at the start of the yellow flag lap.

Team UAE’s Rashed Al-Remeithi withdrew to enable Rashed Al-Qemzi to fight for the outright victory in the number 14 boat and the Emirati produced the drive of the race to power his way from the rear of the field to third place. After an early yellow delay for a start system failure, the race appeared to be incident free until Roberto lo Piano spectacularly flipped his Team Italy boat in front of the timing tents on the penultimate lap. Mike Szymura claimed fourth for Team Germany and the outcome meant that Team Russia headed into the second race with a 23-point lead over Team Belarus.

Panyushkin headed Vandyshev and Al-Qemzi from the start of the second race and the trio were the class of the field, with Vandyshev hitting the front from a hard-charging Al-Qemzi. The Emirati survived a scare when he came close to flipping on lap 14, but he remained well clear of Panyushkin in second position until he was penalised for hitting a turn buoy. Vandyshev claimed the win at the chequered flag and Ustinov benefited from Team UAE’s misfortune to snatch third.

Team Russia had gained the early advantage in the 2015 UIM Nations Cup on Tuesday afternoon. Andrei Panyushkin ran for 13 laps in the time trials and posted the quickest lap of 50.94sec on the 1,580-metre, four-pin Doha Bay course. With Team Qatar’s Khalid Abdullah Al-Kuwari non-starting, 13 boats took to the water and Panyushkin was over half a second quicker than Roman Vandyshev of Team Belarus. Team UAE’s Rashed Al-Remeithi ran for seven laps before the Match Races, but Rashed Al-Qemzi only managed one lap of the course in windy conditions, which forced qualifying to be delayed by two hours.

Team Russia controlled proceedings in the Match Races and Konstantin Ustinov beat Panyushkin in an all-Russian final to give the team a lead of 16 points over Team Germany heading into Wednesday’s sprint races. Ustinov managed to beat Team UAE’s Al-Remeithi in their first Match Race heat and edged a tense quarterfinal against Vandyshev, before beating Team Saudi Arabia’s Ahmed Saud Abdulaziz in the semi-final.

Panyushkin had beaten Team Qatar’s Mohammed Al-Obaidly and Team Germany’s Mike Szymura on the way to the final, with the German seeing off Ahmed Saudi Abdulaziz to take the win in the third place play-off. Team UAE finished the first day of the UIM Nations Cup World Series in fifth position and Al-Qemzi went on to record the quickest lap in Wednesday morning’s practice session. Team Saudi Arabia and Team Qatar failed to start.

Team UAE runs under the auspices of the Abu Dhabi International Marine Sports Club (ADIMSC). Salem Al-Romaithi acts as the team head and works alongside new team manager and 10-time UIM F1 H20 World Champion Guido Cappellini. The team runs under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan Bin Khalifa Al-Nahyan, advisor to the Head of State and President of the board of directors of the ADIMSC. Etihad Airways is the official carrier for Team Abu Dhabi.

2015 UIM Nations Cup World Series – Sprint Race 1:
1. Team Russia – Andrey Panyushkin 22 laps
2. Team Belarus – Roman Vanyshev @1.14sec
3. Team UAE – Rashed Al-Qemzi @3.47sec
4. Team Germany – Mike Szymura @7.74sec
5. Team Russia – Konstantin Ustinov @55.13sec
6. Team Qatar – Mohammed Al-Obaidly @58.03sec
7. Team Belarus – Dmitriy Malkin @1min 00sec
8. Team Italy – Domenico Leidi @1min 01sec
9. Team Germany – Bernd Enzenhofer @1min 04sec
10. Team Saudi Arabia – Nasem Mohammed Al-Kedawi L1
11. Team Saudi Arabia – Ahmed Saud Abdulaziz L2
Team Italy – Roberto Lo Piano RET
Team UAE – Rashed Al-Remeithi DNS
Team Qatar – Khalid Abdullah Al-Kuwari DNS

2015 UIM Nations Cup World Series – Sprint Race 2:
1. Team Belarus – Roman Vanyshev 22 laps
2. Team Russia – Andrey Panyushkin @4.53sec
3. Team Russia – Konstantin Ustinov @12.25sec
4. Team Germany – Mike Szymura @13.89sec
5. Team Belarus – Dmitriy Malkin @22.47sec
6. Team Germany – Bernd Enzenhofer @32.45sec
7. Team Qatar – Mohammed Al-Obaidly @33.33sec
8. Team Italy – Domenico Leidi @46.35sec
9. Team Saudi Arabia – Ahmed Saud Abdulaziz @52.77sec
10. Team UAE – Rashed Al-Qemzi L1
11. Team Saudi Arabia – Nasem Mohammed Al-Kedawi L1
Team Italy – Roberto Lo Piano DNS
Team UAE – Rashed Al-Remeithi DNS
Team Qatar – Khalid Abdullah Al-Kuwari DNS

2015 UIM Nations Cup World Series – Grand Prix of Qatar (final positions):
1. Team Russia 130pts
2. Team Belarus 106 pts
3. Team Germany 94 pts
4. Team Saudi Arabia 60 pts
5. Team Italy 55 pts
6. Team UAE 54 pts
7. Team Qatar 45 pts

– 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: media@adimsc.ae

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Published On: 11 March 2015