Thani Al Qamzi and Scott Gillman of Team Abu Dhabi will start Sunday's Grand Prix of Russia from the sixth and eighth positions, respectively, after Saturday's timed trials on Nizhny Kaban Lake in Kazan.
Qatar's Alex Carella secured pole position for the third round of the UIM F1 H20 World Championship with a fastest lap of 44.63 seconds.
Al Qamzi quickly hit a competitive pace during the free practice session yesterday morning and recorded the second-fastest lap of 44.89, just behind Carella.
Gillman, a veteran driver who made his F1 debut in 1987 and has won four world titles, returned to the cockpit for Team Abu Dhabi in place of Ahmed Al Hameli, who travelled to Russia with the team but is suspended for this race after a driving infraction at the last round in Portugal. Gillman managed 29 laps in the practice sessions and had the 10th-quickest lap, at 48.44s.
The Team Abu Dhabi drivers reached the 10-boat field for the timed trials with solid performances in the first two qualifying sessions.
In the timed trials, Al Qamzi and Gillman held seventh and ninth, respectively, heading into the final five minutes. In the closing moments, Gillman managed to sneak into eighth with Al Qamzi moving into sixth position.
Also yesterday, at the BMW Norwegian Grand Prix in Arendal, Team Abu Dhabi's Majed Al Mansoori and Rashid Al Tayer finished fifth in the first grand prix race, the third race of this year's championship.
The new UIM Class One World Powerboat Championship pairing had qualified in fourth position for the race behind Victory 3 and the Spirit of Qatar 95 and 96 boats, and fought a close duel with Kim.com for fourth position before finishing fifth.
Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor Al Thani and Steve Curtis led from the first lap in Spirit of Qatar 96 to clinch a deserved win after returning to Class 1 racing for the first time in two seasons in Abu Dhabi.
In qualifying for the second race of the Grand Prix, which takes place today, Team Abu Dhabi qualified in fifth position with Victory 3 managing to grab pole.
The Dubai team had been forced to sit out practice on Friday because their boat was found to be under the minimum length after a protest by the Spirit of Qatar 96 team.
11 cabbie-recommended restaurants and dishes to try in Abu Dhabi
Iqbal Restaurant behind Wendy’s on Hamdan Street for the chicken karahi (Dh14)
Pathemari in Navy Gate for prawn biryani (from Dh12 to Dh35)
Abu Al Nasar near Abu Dhabi Mall, for biryani (from Dh12 to Dh20)
Bonna Annee at Navy Gate for Ethiopian food (the Bonna Annee special costs Dh42 and comes with a mix of six house stews – key wet, minchet abesh, kekel, meser be sega, tibs fir fir and shiro).
Al Habasha in Tanker Mai for Ethiopian food (tibs, a hearty stew with meat, is a popular dish; here it costs Dh36.75 for lamb and beef versions)
Himalayan Restaurant in Mussaffa for Nepalese (the momos and chowmein noodles are best-selling items, and go for between Dh14 and Dh20)
Makalu in Mussaffa for Nepalese (get the chicken curry or chicken fry for Dh11)
Al Shaheen Cafeteria near Guardian Towers for a quick morning bite, especially the egg sandwich in paratha (Dh3.50)
Pinky Food Restaurant in Tanker Mai for tilapia
Tasty Zone for Nepalese-style noodles (Dh15)
Ibrahimi for Pakistani food (a quarter chicken tikka with roti costs Dh16)
Sui Dhaaga: Made in India
Director: Sharat Katariya
Starring: Varun Dhawan, Anushka Sharma, Raghubir Yadav
3.5/5
INDIA SQUAD
Virat Kohli (capt), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Vijay Shankar, MS Dhoni (wk), Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami
WHY AAYAN IS 'PERFECT EXAMPLE'
David White might be new to the country, but he has clearly already built up an affinity with the place.
After the UAE shocked Pakistan in the semi-final of the Under 19 Asia Cup last month, White was hugged on the field by Aayan Khan, the team’s captain.
White suggests that was more a sign of Aayan’s amiability than anything else. But he believes the young all-rounder, who was part of the winning Gulf Giants team last year, is just the sort of player the country should be seeking to produce via the ILT20.
“He is a delightful young man,” White said. “He played in the competition last year at 17, and look at his development from there till now, and where he is representing the UAE.
“He was influential in the U19 team which beat Pakistan. He is the perfect example of what we are all trying to achieve here.
“It is about the development of players who are going to represent the UAE and go on to help make UAE a force in world cricket.”
TWISTERS
Director:+Lee+Isaac+Chung
Starring:+Glen+Powell,+Daisy+Edgar-Jones,+Anthony+Ramos
Rating:+2.5/5
Brief scoreline:
Liverpool 5
Keita 1', Mane 23', 66', Salah 45'+1, 83'
Huddersfield 0
Sarfira
Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal
Rating: 2/5
Company Profile
Name: HyveGeo
Started: 2023
Founders: Abdulaziz bin Redha, Dr Samsurin Welch, Eva Morales and Dr Harjit Singh
Based: Cambridge and Dubai
Number of employees: 8
Industry: Sustainability & Environment
Funding: $200,000 plus undisclosed grant
Investors: Venture capital and government