DUBAI // Despite finishing second in the fourth and final round of the UIM XCat Middle East Series, it was enough for Rashid al Marri and Salem Fadhel al Hamli of Team Extreme Marine to be crowned series champions.
Team Fazza's Arif al Zafain and Nadir bin Hendi stormed through to a convincing win ahead of Extreme Marine to claim second in the championships with Abu Dhabi Racing Team of Ahmed Ali Jaber al Hamli and Rashid Jaber al Hamli in third.
"We had a very bad start in the race today and had a lot of ground to make up to catch Fazza, but we held our place and the result was good,' said al Marri.
"We managed one lap in pole position earlier this morning as we developed engine troubles and spent the time between the races doing repairs. We are really happy to to be the Middle East Champions again this year and I want to thank everyone who supports us."
Fazza led the fleet from the start averaging 142 kph around the 11-lap course and finished 50 seconds in front of Extreme Marine in the fleet of 18 extreme catamarans. Two boats failed to finish and Skydive Dubai did not start due to engine problems.
"We feel like this should have been our series," said Fazza's al Zafain. "We won three out of the four heats and it was only bad luck in the last heat in Abu Dhabi where we didn't finish that has let us down.
"We are happy with today's win but disappointed as we felt that we really deserved to win the overall series this time. We missed out last year and we've missed out again this year. But this will make us improve and more determined in next season and not just to be the XCat champions but also champions in Class 1."
The calendar for the new season is still to be announced but will be extended to six heats held in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Fujairah.