(MENAFN- The Peninsula) 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 yesterday.
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 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 the third position.
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.
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 Al Mansoori and 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.
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 Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor Al Thani, President of the QMSF.
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.
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