Al Qamzi clinches third world UIM F2 title with Portugal win
Emirati romps to win in emphatic fashion for Team Abu Dhabi
Team Abu Dhabi’s Rashid Al Qamzi secured his third UIM F2 world championship title yesterday with an emphatic victory in the Grand Prix of Portugal.
Starting from pole position, the brilliant Emirati driver completely dominated the final round of the series at Vila Velha de Rodao, winning by a commanding margin of 8.686s from the host country’s defending world champion, Duarte Benavente.
It was Al Qamzi’s fourth successive Grand Prix win in Portugal and his second taste of world title glory this season following July’s Endurance Championship success in Poland.
Italian powerboat racing legend Guido Cappellini has now landed 13 world titles since taking charge as Team Abu Dhabi manager in February 2015.
Mansour Al Mansouri, another member of the Endurance title-winning crew three months ago, was unfortunate to go out of the race after 18 laps, but has shown enough in his debut season to suggest he can become a real force with Team Abu Dhabi.
Al Qamzi had made a decisive move by winning Portugal’s penultimate round at Ribadouro a week earlier to within two points of Lithuania’s championship leader, Edgaras Riabko.
That meant victory yesterday would guarantee another F2 crown for the 2017 and 2019 champion, and Al Qamzi reinforced his prospects with a second successive pole position on Saturday while Riabko qualified down in 11th place, effectively ending his challenge.
From the start on the 1,577m Tagus river course yesterday, Al Qamzi looked in a class of his own, powering his way into an immediate lead and at one stage building a huge advantage of 13 seconds over Benavente before relaxing his pace towards the end.