Dubai (UAE): Nader Bin Hendi and Arif Al Zafeen brought down the curtain on the UIM Class 1 World Powerboat Championship with their ninth win of the season on a day of mixed emotions at the Emirates/Dubai Duty Free Dubai Grand Prix

On the first anniversary of the tragic loss of powerboat race champions Mohammed Al Mehairi and Jean Marc Sanchez, the Dubai Victory Team’s Fazza crew wanted to mark the occasion with a win dedicated to their team-mates.

And on a day when the Class 1 circus produced the race of the season, they delivered a fitting tribute to Sanchez and Al Mehairi winning from the front despite a titanic effort by EDOX Pole Position World Champions Kolbjorn Selmer and Jorn Tandberg in Welmax. The Norwegians pushed the UAE stars all the way losing out by just 3.81s after 67.74Nm of intense competition.

“On tighter course they might have caught us but today crowns what has been a wonderful season for everyone in the Victory Team,” said throttleman Bin Hendi after wrapping up the 21^st Class 1 win of his career with Al Zafeen at an average speed of 178.38kmph. “The whole team has played their part in getting us to the chequered flag and we share the world title with every single one of them.”

Dubai (UAE): Class 1 World Champions Nader Bin Hendi and Arif Al Zafeen maintained their remarkable 2010 season with win number eight in the opening race of the Emirates/Dubai Duty Free Grand Prix at Mina Seyahi yesterday (Friday).

The Fazza crew have dominated the Class One scene over the past few years and they underlined their supremacy with the 20^th race win of their careers some 14 seconds ahead of Team Abu Dhabi’s Rashid Al Tayer and John Tomlinson with Italians Guido Cappellini and Giampaolo Montavoci just over eight seconds further adrift in third with GSG Ceramic Design.

It’s a win that continues their rise through Class 1’s Hall of Fame – now only British racing legend Steve Curtis (40 wins) and Norwegian pilot Bjorn Gjelsten (34) are ahead of them in the modern era.

“With the World Championship already won, there was no pressure on us to win in Dubai,” said throttleman Bin Hendi. “But we wanted to go out and put on a show and that’s exactly what we did. It was a perfect race for us.”

STRESA (Italy): Norway’s Jorn Tandberg and Kolbjorn Selmer clinched their first win of the 2010 UIM Class 1 World Powerboat Championship on Saturday, dominating the opening race at the Italian Grand Prix in Stresa.

Defending World Champions Nader Bin Hendi and Arif Al Zafeen of the UAE are the new Class 1 European Powerboat Champions after a flawless wire-to-wire victory at the Italian Grand Prix in Stresa – Race 2.

The Emiratis went into the 64.82Nm race with a narrow one point lead over their nearest title challengers but left them trailing in their wake by storming from pole position to the chequered flag at an average speed of 188.90kmph in what were grim racing conditions.

Battling low visibility and fog on the course, Bin Hendi and Al Zafeen won in a time of 39m:31.29s and fifteen seconds ahead of a titanic fight for second place ultimately won by Italian racing legend Guido Cappellini and Swiss co-pilot Marcello Menegatto just two seconds ahead of the Skydive Dubai pairing of Talib Al Sayed and Abdullah Al Mehairbi.