Victory Team prove to be the best powerboating Speed Cats in Italy

Al Adidi and Al Sayed ride improved boats to win 1km elimination race.

The Victory Team had anticipated being in the top three but finished winners eventually. Raffaello Bastiani / WPPA

ARONA, ITALY // Dubai's Victory Team claimed a maiden Speed Cat Run on Saturday as teams warmed-up for Sunday's European Grand Prix.

Salem Al Adidi and Talib Al Sayed produced a succession of fine performances to claim the Dubai Duty Free Speed Cat Run - which is a one-on-one elimination race over a straight 1km course.

They defeated the Italian combination of Matteo Nicolini and Tomaso Polli in Six in the first round before getting the better of Consul Brokers in the semi-final.

They then faced series leaders and favourites, Fazza in the final but held their nerve against their teammates. The Victory Team, Fazza and Skydive Dubai boats all race as part of the Victory Team stable.

"From official practice this morning we anticipated that one of the Victory boats would be in the top three because we could see that the speed and acceleration and everything was good," said Al Sayed.

"So we were a bit confident that one of us would win. What we have is the latest revised version of the Victory Team boat.

"We have done improvements on the boat – it's one of the fastest boats right now, but I have a new colleague with me in the boat and he's done only four races until now so he is still learning."

Speaking about the final against Fazza, he added: "We didn't do anything special but our boat accelerated better and got more top speed."

The Emaar Pole Position race takes place on Sunday to determine start positions for this afternoon's grand prix (6.30pm UAE time), which is the fifth round of the UIM Skydive Dubai XCAT World Series.

Al Sayed added: "Psychologically this win has given us a push, but we have to forget today and focus on tomorrow because tomorrow is a completely different challenge. It's going to be a long race for us.

"The plan is first of all to finish the race. I am quietly confident that we'll be starting in the top three or four so we'll take the inside line and then it depends – things can happen during the race so who knows?"

Fans can follow all the action live via www.xcatracing.com.

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