3:41 PM Sat 3 Oct 2009 GMT
Fazza stormed to their second successive pole in today's Edox Pole Position, with the World and European Championship leaders coming from behind in a nail-biting qualifying session. Australian team Maritimo, claiming their first ever pole position podium, had to settle for second place on the starting grid with the top three completed by Victory 1.
Arif Al Zafeen and Nadir Bin Hendi in Fazza claimed an impressive pole position to take the outright lead in the Edox Pole Position Championship. After seeing Maritimo beat their initial lap-time, Al Zafeen and Bin Hendi headed back onto the racecourse to set a time of 2mins 34.45secs. A happy Bin Hendi said, 'There are a lot of strong boats here so it was important to get the pole. We set a marker with our first lap and then waited to see what the rest of the field could do. When Maritimo beat our time we went back out and had to push hard to get the pole. It sets us up perfectly for the race.'
Maritimo's Tom Barry-Cotter and Pal Nilsen's first Edox Pole Position Podium was tinged with disappointment. After setting a superb lap-time of 2mins 35.82 seconds, they could only watch as Fazza eclipsed their time in the last five minutes of qualifying. Despite this, the Australian team will take heart from an impressive showing. 'We are very happy with the lap and podium place, but disappointed that Fazza went faster. We are now in a Victory sandwich at the start and that will be difficult for us,' said Barry-Cotter.
The podium places were completed by Victory 1's Mohammad Al Mehairi and Jean-Marc Sanchez who were only five hundredths of a second slower than Maritimo. After the initial laps had been completed, they had posted only the fifth fastest time, but a lap-time of 2mins 35.87secs saw them leap-frog team-mates Victory 77 and Norwegian outfit Welmax. Sanchez said: 'We had to change the set up and we are happy with that time. We will need to get a good start and then we will have a chance.'
There was disappointment further down the field as both Welmax and Victory 77 had occupied the third place on the grid during the session. Jorn Tandberg and Kolbjorn Selmer were unable to improve on their time on their final laps to reclaim the third place and had to settle for fourth while Mohammed Al Marri and Abdullah Al Mehairbi in Victory 77 will start fifth.
Despite going a second quicker than in yesterday's practice session, Nicola Giorgi and Kurt Olsen in Giorgioffshore had to settle for sixth fastest. C.A.M.'s Giovanni Carpitella and Christian Rivolta also improved on yesterday's times to finish ahead of all-Italian pairing, Giampaolo Montavoci and Roberto Lo Piano in Foresti & Suardi - Roscioli Hotels.
Edox Pole Position - Results
1. Fazza - A Al Zafeen (UAE) / N Bin Hendi (UAE) - 02.34,45
2. Maritimo 11 - T Barry-Cotter (AUS) / PV Nilsen (NOR) - 02.35,82
3. Victory 1 - M Al Mehairi (UAE) / JM Sanchez (FRA) - 02.35,87
4. Welmax - K Selmer (NOR) / J Tandberg (NOR) - 02.37,04
5. Victory 77 - A Al Mehairbi (UAE) / M Al Marri (UAE) - 02.38,34
6. Giorgioffshore - K Olsen (NOR) / N Giorgi (ITA) - 02.42,17
7. C.A.M. - C Rivolta (ITA) / G Carpitella (ITA) - 02.43,61
8. Foresti & Suardi-Roscioli Hotels - R Lo Piano (ITA) / G Montavoci (ITA) - 02.48,01
Edox Pole Position Championship - (after round 4 of 6)
1. Fazza - 64pts
2. Victory 1 - 56pts
3. Qatar 95 - 35pts
4. Welmax - 34pts
5. Maritimo 11 - 28pts
6. Qatar 96 - 24pts
7. Giorgioffshore - 17pts
8.Victory 77 - 14pts
9= Maritimo 12 - 11pts
9= Foresti & Suardi - Roscioli Hotels - 11pts
11. C.A.M. - 9pts
by Class 1 News
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Double Is Pt, QLD
