Team Abu Dhabi’s Rashed Al Qemzi reproduced the form which has taken him to four UIM F2 World Championship titles as he snatched pole position for tomorrow’s Grand Prix of Norway in Tønsberg.
The defending champion followed up his victory in Friday night’s match race event with another assured display to win Saturday qualifying for the second round of the 2004 championship.
Making it a perfect day for Team Abu Dhabi, Mansoor Al Mansoori set the second fastest time in the six-boat qualifying shoot-out to put the two Emirati drivers in a strong position for tomorrow afternoon’s Grand Prix.
It was the perfect response from the duo following Al Qemzi’s sixth-place finish in the opening round in Brindisi, Italy where both he and team-mate Al Mansoori were hindered by technical issues.
Since then, the team has built a new boat for Al Mansoori following his early retirement, while earlier this week they underwent three days of testing in San Nazarro, and there were immediate signs that all the hard work was paying off.
Al Qemzi, who is looking to create history as the first five-time F2 world champion, was back to his best in taking the match race honours on Friday evening, beating Sweden’s Mathilda Wiberg in the final heat in front of thousands of race fans lining the promenade in Tønsberg.
Team Abu Dhabi then dominated the Saturday morning free practice session, with Al Qemzi setting the fastest time, fractionally ahead of Al Mansoori.
The reigning world champion took that form into the afternoon qualifying sessions, recording the fastest time with his last lap in the first phase from the championship leader, Britain’s Matthew Palfreyman.
Comfortably progressing with the eighth best lap, Al Mansoori was then second fastest in Q2 behind Finland’s Jarno Vilmunen, with Al Qemzi in third spot, while Palfreman dropped out in ninth.
There was no stopping Al Qemzi in the shoot-out, as he became the first driver this weekend to go below 43 seconds in setting the fastest lap fractionally ahead of Al Mansoori, with Vilmunen qualifying in third place.
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