The Abu Dhabi International Marine Sports Club (ADIMSC) enjoyed a successful weekend of endurance racing on their debut at the punishing 24 Hours of Rouen in northern France.
The team entered two DAC boats in the race with the Team Abu Dhabi 35 quartet of Alex Carella, Thani Al Qamzi, Majed Al Mansoori and Tullio Abbate finished first in the S2 class and third overall in their DAC after completing 792 laps of the 3.8-kilometre course on the River Seine.
• See also: Team Abu Dhabi ready for test of endurance at the 24 Hours of Rouen in France
“This was an amazing experience for me and the entire team,” said Al Qamzi. “It’s hard to put into words the experience of running at speeds for very long periods where you have to keep maximum concentration to avoid making any mistakes.”
The overall race victory and the S1 class win fell to the double UIM F1 H20 world champion Philippe Chiappe and his fellow French crew of Peter and Nelson Morin and Rodolphe Avenel in the F1 CTIC China Team Moore entry.
They hit the front towards the end of the first session on Saturday evening, after Team Abu Dhabi 35 had suffered mechanical issues, and held the lead to the finish. Team Abu Dhabi 35 also suffered a propeller failure in the final hour that dropped them behind the French Team Cegelec SDEM ITM boat and into third in the overall standings. But the S2 class win was secured by an impressive 37-lap margin.
“What an amazing weekend’s racing,” said Carella. “The class win for Team Abu Dhabi after a long difficult race, where we overcame our fair share of problems and survived that late scare at the end.”
“This race was an amazing experience for our entire team and a superb opportunity for everyone to bond together and work alongside one another over a long period of time in a high pressure environment,” Salem Al Romaithi, assistant general manager of the ADIMSC. “It was an incredible test of endurance for the drivers, the equipment and every member of the team.”
Mohammed Al Mehairbi, Rashid Al Qamzi, Italy’s Alberto Comparato and Rashid Al Tayer crewed the second Team Abu Dhabi 36 boat and lost time in the first four hours of the race after running inside the top six from the start. They climbed back into contention during Saturday afternoon, but a crash late on Saturday evening for Comparato damaged the boat and forced them into retirement.
24 Hours of Rouen - Class S2 results:
1. Team Abu Dhabi 35 792 laps
2. Navikart Racing 32 755 laps
3. New Star 1 20 728 laps
4. Team Studio Fitness 38 721 laps
5. Extreme Racing 26 703 laps
6. Team Studio Fitness 28 647 laps
7. Team Privilege 25 200 laps
8. New Star 2 22 DNF – 485 laps
9. Team Abu Dhabi 36 DNF - 321 laps
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