2022 UIM XCAT World Championship - Round 1, Fujairah GP (UAE), Day 3
2022 UIM XCAT World Championship - Round 1, Fujairah GP (UAE), Day 3
Leading from start to finish, Nicolini and Polli took their first win of the season. They kept powering ahead making use of the clear but not calm water in front of them, bouncing up and down or from side to side, yet still putting distance from whoever was chasing them.
The newly introduced short lap in combination with its longer brother paid off by changing the rankings more often during the race with 222 Offshore managing to grab the second place from Foresti & Suardi in the very last lap, after the latter had clinged to the spot for the most part of the race, thanks to the same X-Point procedure.
Same as yesterday, Dubai Police showed strength making their way up to the fourth place after a series of technical challenges on both pole sessions had them starting among the last in the grid. The always smiling Kuwaiti team who started last performed well and made it to the top 5 after overtaking the less fortunate racers, but also Team GB which was the last boat to see the checkered flag today.
The rest of the fleet was forced out by a collection of technical failures, some of which might have been caused by the sea conditions and the wind picking up just before the race start. Today again, such a shame for both Maritimo and HPI Racing. The Schiano brothers scored a top 3 time in the pole session, yet a loose electrical connector got wet and caused them to retire on lap 4. The Maritimo young guns, Tom and Pal, managed quickly to get to 3rd spot, only to see them retire in lap 4 due to an oil pressure drop. Sebastian Groth of Swecat Racing made his debut at the throttle and pushed through up to 4th place when a loose clamp cost them power, caused them to drop down to eight place and then forced them to return to the pontoon. Same way for Pastamato 22 when they finally heard the news that their engine cover was waving at the spectators, the only wise decision was to retire in order to avoid bigger damage.
Here are the official results of Fujairah GP - Race 2 and the overall 2022 UIM XCAT World Championship standings.
So thats all folks. It was intense, it was unpredictable, it was XCAT! See you at the next one!