It all came down to the final lap of the afternoon and defending two-time World Champion Philippe Chiappe of the CTIC F1 China Team has once again shown that he is still the driver to beat as he captured his fifth career pole position in BRM.

Qualifications at the inaugural Grand Prix of Dubai in front of thousands of race fans along the inner harbour on Thursday afternoon. The day was punctuated with heavy winds blowing in from the East running parallel along the

front and back straightaways with only the bravest of drivers taking advantage of a bright sunshine filled day around the 1.96 kilometers (1.22 mile) five-pin circuit. Eighteen drivers from 11 various nations were whittled down to the top-six in the Q3 session with Swedish driver Erik Stark coming out first for the Emirates Team doing a 41.94 in his two solo laps good enough for fourth starting position on the starting pontoon tomorrow afternoon.

Thani Al Qamzi of Team Abu Dhabi was out next and could only manage 42.17 for sixth place before Jonas Andersson of Team Sweden jumped to the top of the standings with a wonderful 41.78 and a 172.33 kph lap.

Local Victory Team driver Shaun Torrente from Florida pushed as hard as he could with a 42.06 and will start fifth in a brand new boat.

Torrente's old teammate Italian Alex Carella now driving for the Emirates with Team Abu Dhabi looked like he was going to earn his 12th career pole with a sensational 41.61 second lap for a 173.08 kph speed until the two-time champion came out and on the very final lap burst his bubble with a superb 41.36 lap and a 174.08 kph speed earning his fifth career pole.

"It took me to the final moments today" said Philippe with a smile. "We had a great setup but I over drove the boat on the first of my two laps and then got my mind straight and it paid off in dividends didn't it? It's my third pole position in my last six races and I feel pretty confident we can be at the number one position off the dock at any Grand Prix now. It's my crew that has brought me this package and my confidence is sky hi at that the moment."

Philippe's teammate in Chinese driver "Leo" Xiong just missed making his first top-six shootout and will start seventh tomorrow with a 42.91-second lap. In eighth place will be Norwegian Marit Stromoy of Team EMIC recording a 42.94 as she chased her second career pole coming up short.

Ninth was Portugal's Duarte Benavente with a 43.48 for F1 Atlantic and rounding out the top ten was veteran Sami Selio of Finland with a 44.03 not the best of days for the two-time World Champion who had nine previous pole positions in the United Arab Emirates.

Right after the last lap the Top 3 has been awarded by the DIMC Board Members Essa Bin Kharbash and Ali Bin Hendi together with them is Mr. Nicolo di San Germano the President of H2O Racing.

The inaugural Grand Prix of Dubai takes place on Friday at 11:30 UTC 15:30 local and 06:30 EST on the East Coast of North America. The race can be followed live via the tour's website at www.f1h2o.com with statistics and the worldwide television feed also available.

abu dhabi - One of the most anticipated triathlon seasons will take place in Abu Dhabi on Saturday with the 2016 ITU World Triathlon Abu Dhabi. The world's fastest triathletes will toe the UAE start line in a bid to earn their first World Ranking points of the year as they begin their final preparations for this summer's Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games.

Last year Abu Dhabi joined the World Triathlon Series (WTS) calendar and became the first Middle East city to host a WTS event.

The UAE capital is one of only four WTS events left for athletes to earn Olympic qualification points as they battle through the challenging 1.5 km swim 40km bike and 10km run overlooking Abu Dhabi's glittering Corniche.

The elite men will compete first on Saturday with six of the world's top 10 on the Abu Dhabi start list delivering what is sure to be an action-packed start to the 2016 season. Topping the list is the Abu Dhabi reigning champion Mario Mola who is expected to once again set a blistering pace.

The men will get the 2016 ITU World Triathlon Abu Dhabi underway at 1:06pm on Saturday while the women will follow at 4:06pm local time with an equally jam-packed start list full of talent.

For the first time in over three years the women's 2012 London Olympic podium will meet again in a race when they line up on the Abu Dhabi start line. Reigning Olympic gold medallist Nicola Spirig (SUI) is making her first season WTS appearance this weekend. The Baku European Games champion she has already qualified for her fourth Olympic Games. However her podium mates in London have yet to seal their fate. After two years of injury Olympic silver medallist Lisa Norden (SWE) lines up with Rio on her mind as does Olympic bronze medallist Erin Densham.

American compatriots Sarah True and Katie Zaferes are all set to compete and top the ITU World Triathlon Abu Dhabi women's start list.

True was the second runner-up for the World Champion title last season after finishing third in the world rankings and will be one to watch as she arrives in the UAE capital with a brand new training approach for 2016.

True graced three WTS podiums in 2015 including her victory in WTS Stockholm. She also secured her spot to represent the US in Rio this summer.