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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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
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Dir: Taika Waititi
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett, Jeff Goldblum, Mark Ruffalo, Tessa Thompson
Four stars
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Men’s 71kg Round 1:
Seyed Kaveh Soleyman (IRI) beat Abedel Rahman (JOR) - RSC round 3.
Amine Al Moatassime (UAE) walk over Ritiz Puri (NEP)
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Director: Todd Phillips
Rating: 2/5
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- Unlike previous French demonstrations there was no trade union or organised movement involved
- Demonstrators responded to online petitions and flooded squares to block traffic
- At its height there were almost 300,000 on the streets in support
- Named after the high visibility jackets that drivers must keep in cars
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Our legal advisor
Ahmad El Sayed is Senior Associate at Charles Russell Speechlys, a law firm headquartered in London with offices in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Hong Kong.
Experience: Commercial litigator who has assisted clients with overseas judgments before UAE courts. His specialties are cases related to banking, real estate, shareholder disputes, company liquidations and criminal matters as well as employment related litigation.
Education: Sagesse University, Beirut, Lebanon, in 2005.
Anti-semitic attacks
The annual report by the Community Security Trust, which advises the Jewish community on security , warned on Thursday that anti-Semitic incidents in Britain had reached a record high.
It found there had been 2,255 anti-Semitic incidents reported in 2021, a rise of 34 per cent from the previous year.
The report detailed the convictions of a number of people for anti-Semitic crimes, including one man who was jailed for setting up a neo-Nazi group which had encouraged “the eradication of Jewish people” and another who had posted anti-Semitic homemade videos on social media.
