NEW PAIRINGS STEP UP TO CHALLENGE FAZZA
Friday, 1 October. STRESA (Italy): Fazza’s Arif Al Zafeen and Nadir Bin Hendi topped the standings in today’s official practice session, posting the fastest time of the afternoon, two seconds ahead of their nearest challenger, with less than ten seconds separating the seven boats that took to the water.
It was a clear message from the World Champions, obviously unhappy at losing their protest against the post-race time penalty they were handed in Sweden, of their intent to retain the team’s European title this weekend. “We are not happy at all with the verdict but we just have to accept it and move on,” said 
throttleman Bin Hendi. “It means we have to go all out for two wins this weekend – but even if Giovanni [Carpitella] gets two second place finishes and wins the European title, two wins for us will still strengthen our place in the overall world championship.”
A long session saw Fazza, one of three outfits to run ten timed laps, going quickest on their final outing, posting a time of 2mins 20.89secs around the 4.02Nm circuit, but noticeably it was a trio of new driver-pairings that stepped up to challenge them.
Less than two seconds separated Team Abu Dhabi, Primatist and Negotiator, with American John Tomlinson demonstrating 
immediately why he has been drafted in to throttle Team Abu Dhabi alongside Rashed Al Tayer, posting the second fastest time of the session.
Marcello Menegatto marked his Class 1 debut beside Guido Cappellini in Primatist with an equally impressive time, with Cappellini clearly happy to be back in the Tencara that he drove to third place in race 2 at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Negotiator’s new pairing of Chris Parsonage, back behind the wheel for the first time in over a year, and Giovanni Carpitella topped off the top half of the standings with a solid showing, with Carpitella, who leads the European title race, confident that they can improve their times.
Skydive Dubai’s Abdullah Al Mehairbi and Talib Al Sayed were satisfied with their afternoon’s work, with Al Sayed stating that they had one or two small issues to resolve, but that they were not far off the pace and can close the gap to their teammates, whilst Welmax’s Jorn Tandberg and Kolbjorn Selmer’s session was cut short with a minor technical problem.
Relekta team boss, Jan Zaborowski, described their session as more of a ‘shakedown’ to check the new set-up and modifications that have been made to the boat following the crash in Sweden that left the boat severely damaged, and that he was more than happy with the way things had gone.
Italian Grand Prix – official practice
1. Fazza – A Al Zafeen (UAE) / N Bin Hendi (UAE) – 02.20,89
2. Team Abu Dhabi – R Al Tayer (UAE) / J Tomlinson (USA) – 02.22,60
3. Primatist – G Cappellini (ITA) / M Menegatto (CHE) – 02.23,56
4. Negotiator – C Parsonage (ENG) / G Carpitella (ITA) – 02.23,84
5. Skydive Dubai – A Al Mehairbi (UAE) / T Al Sayed (UAE) – 02.24,98
6. Welmax – K Selmer (NOR) / J Tandberg (NOR) – 02.25,53
7. Relekta – P Gaiser (BRA) / C Zaborowski (NOR) – 02.30,43
8. Giorgioffshore – T Polli (ITA) / N Giorgi (ITA) – DNS
All articles and pictures used in PowerboatPro´s Class 1 News section courtesy of Class 1 .
Source: UIM Class1 website
