CAMPIONE D’ITALIA, Italy: Making a welcome change from its recent successes in the UIM XCAT World Series and the UIM F1 H2O World Championship, Team Abu Dhabi is about to embark on another power boating challenge by entering two race boats in the UIM F2 Italian Grand Prix at Campione d’Italia this weekend.
The second round of the prestigious UIM F2 World Championship is centered around the beautiful Italian municipality of Campione d’Italia and the team from the Abu Dhabi International Marine Sports Club (ADIMSC) has confirmed that Mohammed Al-Mehairbi and Rashed Al-Qamzi will drive Team Abu Dhabi boats 36 and 35, the two race hulls that were used at the 24 Hours of Rouen in the spring.
Team Abu Dhabi personnel arrived in Italy yesterday to begin their preparations for the racing on Saturday and Sunday, where they face fierce competition from the likes of early season leader Alberto Comparato and F1 and F-4S racing regulars, Bimba Sjoholm, Pierre Lundin, Tobias Munthe-Kaas and Uvis Slakteris.
“Everyone is looking forward to this exciting new challenge for Team Abu Dhabi,” said Salem Al-Romaithi, assistant general manager of the Abu Dhabi International Marine Sports Club (ADIMSC), who was joined in Italy by the likes of the team’s technical supervisor Nasser Al-Dhaheri, media spokesmen Khaled Al-Saadi and Hossam Gamal El-Din and on-event race team manager Guido Cappellini.
“We achieved great success in these boats with the class victory at the 24 Hours of Rouen and it was an obvious step for our drivers to venture into the world of F2 racing. Mohammed and Rashed have experience in all kinds of racing and I am confident that they can achieve an excellent performance against some of the best up and coming racers in Europe.”
Alex Carella represented the Abu Dhabi Team at the opening F2 round in Finland and the Rouen Class S2 winner was also the provisional winner of that first F2 race at Peurunka, until a technical scrutineer discovered a wiring anomaly and the boat was disqualified from the race standings.
Campione d’Italia is located in the province of Como in the Lombardy region of northern Italy and is an Italian enclave within the Swiss canton of Ticino, separated from the rest of Italy by mountains. The nearest Italian town in Lanzo d’Intelvi, which is close to Cappellini’s home city of Como.
Team Abu Dhabi is sponsored by Etihad Airways and runs under the patronage of Sheikh Sultan Bin Khalifa Al-Nahyan, adviser to the head of state and chairman of the board of directors of the Abu Dhabi International Marine Sports Club (ADIMSC).
Teams carry out the compulsory administration checks and technical scrutineering tomorrow (Friday) and free practice then takes center stage on Saturday (June 25) from 10.25hrs. The qualifying session is then split into three sessions – Q1 Q2 and Q3 – from 14.30hrs and a Match Race rounds off the day’s action from 17.30hrs.
Further free practice is permitted on Sunday morning from 10.25hrs and the UIM F2 Italian Grand Prix roars into life from 14.35hrs (16.35hrs UAE time).
Team Abu Dhabi set to tackle Italian round of F2 World Championship
Team Abu Dhabi set to tackle Italian round of F2 World Championship
Own goal enough for Al-Ahli as Matchday 24 win keeps pressure on Al-Nassr
- Al-Ahli eke out 1-0 win over Al-Riyadh to keep pressure on Al-Nassr
- Milan Borjan own goal separated the sides at Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium
RIYADH: Matchday 24 of the Saudi Pro League kicked off on Thursday, less than 24 hours after the conclusion of the delayed Matchday 10. With the FIFA Arab Cup, World Cup Qualifiers and FIFA World Cup sandwiching the 2025/26 campaign, resting periods have been few and far between outside the international breaks.
With fixtures coming thick and fast, Al-Ahli opted to rest Riyad Mahrez and Enzo Millot for their clash with Al-Riyadh in the capital. Ramadan has further challenged the league schedule, with Matthias Jaissle’s side only arriving in Riyadh at 5:30pm — just hours before kick-off.
With their previous outing against Damac still dominating conversation, Jaissle was keen to ensure his players did not fall into the same trap — namely, being caught off guard by an opponent’s unexpectedly proactive style.
To his relief, Al-Ahli were largely in control this time. Yet the absence of Mahrez limited their creative spark. Relying heavily on Wenderson Galeno down the left, Al-Riyadh did well to crowd the Brazilian and deny him space to operate.
The bane of any expansive side is a compact 5-4-1, and that is precisely how Al-Riyadh’s recently appointed Brazilian manager Mauricio Dulac set his team up. A long-time assistant to former Al-Riyadh coach Odair Hellmann, this marks Dulac’s first managerial role.
Al-Ahli’s attacking routes were severely restricted throughout the first half. Al-Riyadh denied them the opportunity to press high, Mahrez’s trademark diagonals were absent, and finding Ivan Toney in the six-yard box proved a difficult task.
On the rare occasions the visitors broke the defensive line, Milan Borjan stood firm in goal — there was no getting past the Canadian.
That was until first-half stoppage time. Al-Ahli had one more weapon in their arsenal: set-pieces. A lofted delivery from Galeno’s free-kick met the head of Roger Ibañez, who nodded the ball towards goal. Borjan pushed it away, but it was too late — the ball crossed the line.
VAR intervened within seconds. Ibañez was a shoulder offside, and the opener was chalked off. It was a notable twist, particulary as the simultaneous fixture between Al-Fateh and Damac in Al-Ahsa featured a celebration aimed squarely at Al-Ahli and VAR.
Earlier in the week, Damac equalised late against Al-Ahli via Yakou Méïté, only for the goal to be overturned. Méïté reacted angrily and lashed out at referees, but Al-Ahli escaped with the three points. Méïté followed up with a goal against Al-Fateh, and celebrated by mimicking the referee’s VAR signal.
Back in Riyadh, Al-Ahli returned for the second half with renewed intensity. Zakaria Hawsawi grew more adventurous from left-back, threading lofted balls over the Al-Riyadh defence.
In the 53rd minute, he found Toney behind the last defender, but the Englishman’s volley was adeptly saved by Borjan. Five minutes later, Galeno latched onto Hawsawi’s cross and thought he had broken the deadlock — only for the linesman’s flag to rise once again.
Al-Ahli pushed, but as time ticked away, it seemed the coveted winner would elude them. However, once again, set pieces proved decisive.
In the 75th minute, a corner from Saleh Abu Al-Shamat was parried by Borjan, only for his effort to be bundled into his own net, sending the travelling supporters into a frenzy.
After last week’s scare, Al-Ahli knew they had to finish the job. Cue Ibañez, who surged forward from deep before slipping the ball through to Toney to seal the game with what would have been his 24th goal of the season. The run itself deserved a goal, but Toney was flagged inches offside.
Despite another difficult outing, Al-Ahli did enough to secure a clean sheet and grind out a 1-0 victory to move top on 59 points — one ahead of Al-Nassr, who are yet to play this weekend.
Elsewhere, Méïté’s equaliser was later cancelled out by a 77th-minute Mourad Batna penalty, in a match that saw fans commemorate him for surpassing 100 goal contributions with Al-Fateh.
Batna had earlier missed from the spot to the frustation of the home fans, but Al-Fateh’s undefeated streak against Damac at home remains intact as the encounter ended 1-1.
Saudi Pro League action resumes on Friday, with Al-Hazem hosting Al-Ettifaq, Al-Ittihad welcoming Al-Khaleej, and one of Riyadh’s top derbies in Al-Shabab and Al-Hilal. All games kick-off at 10:00pm, in the league’s unified Ramadan schedule.
