Doha: Thamer Al Darwish and Mohamed Al Heidus will be looking to win the Runabout GP1 world title for Qatar for the first time in the sport’s 21-year history at the final Grand Prix of the season in Sharjah on December 19 and 20. With two races to run and with 50 points on offer Al Darwish has the upper hand and leads the title race on 89 points, 16 ahead of France’s Jeremy Perez and a further three in front of Jean-Baptiste Botti.
Al Heidus, however, has work to do if he is to close the gap to his countryman and sits in sixth spot on 61 points behind Middle East rivals Khalifa Belselah and 2013 World Champion Youssef Al Abdulrazzaq.
After becoming the first Qatari to win a UIM-ABP tour race and GP title, appropriately doing it on home waters in Doha in March, Al Darwish hit the front in the title race after the penultimate round in China, but he has failed to win in his last four outings, was outgunned by the UAE’s Belselah in Italy and by Al Heidus in China, who grabbed his first race win and GP title last time out to put himself into contention.
Qatar Sailing and Water Sports Federation (QSWF) announced here yesterday that the team will depart to Dubai a week before the race to get use to the local conditions and as part of the training.
The team consists of the Aquabike team manager and QSWF Board Member Salah Al Mannai, besides mechanics Bader Al Zaini and Rashid Al Mannai. The two riders will also undergo physical training besides the technical training in regards to their aquabikes in order to be fully prepared for the final round.
The Peninsula
