Intro:

The Emirati team of Arif Al Zaffain and Mohammed Al Marri steered Victory Team to a record 13th Class 1 World Championship title in powerboating on Friday (6th December) with a win on home waters off Abu Dhabi.

Script:

The turquoise waters off Abu Dhabi staged the final race of the Class 1 World Championship powerboat season on Saturday.

Home heroes Arif Al Zaffain and Mohammed Al Marri produced another commanding performance, with the only challenge to their supremacy over the 14 laps of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix came early on, when their team-mates Darren Nicholson and Nadir Bin

Hendi aboard Victory Australia got the jump on them at the start on the outside leg to take the lead, albeit briefly.

A mistake by Nicholson at the first turn allowed Al Zaffain and Al Marri to get ahead and once they got out in front, they simply disappeared off into the distance.

Victory Australia later retired with engine trouble.

Chirstian Zaborowski and Ugur Isik also had problems with their engines.

LF8's Alfredo Amato and Miles Jennings benefited from the retiree list and, despite starting from eighth, ended the day in fourth place.

Victory Team completed the season with 120 points, 31 ahead of Zabo-Isiklar, who edged out LF10 by one point and Victory Team Australia by five.