Victory Team clinched the 2025 XCAT World Championship with a commanding victory in Race 1 at the Dubai Grand Prix, securing the title with one race remaining after Team GB finished fifth at Sunset Beach on Friday afternoon.
Salem Al Adidi and Eisa Al Ali won the 16-lap race by 6.
The clock is ticking to the final showdown to decide the outcome of this year’s UIM F1H2O World Championship.
The Road to Sharjah–Grand Prix of Sharjah will bring the 2025 championship to a dramatic conclusion on Khaled Lagoon from December 19-21.
Sharjah Team claimed pole position for Race 1 at the XCAT Dubai Grand Prix despite completing only seven laps in qualifying, whilst championship leaders Victory Team secured second position and Team GB qualified fifth at Sunset Beach on Friday morning.
HPI Fujairah Racing Team posted the fastest time of 2:27.
The International Hot Rod Association has acquired the F1 Powerboat Racing series, the premier American tunnel boat championship, continuing the Ohio-based organisation’s rapid expansion into water-based motorsports following its October purchase of Powerboat P1 USA/P1 Offshore.
The XCAT World Championship concludes at Sunset Beach this weekend with all sessions broadcast live on YouTube as Victory Team’s 22-point advantage faces its final test against Team GB.
Salem Al Adidi and Eisa Al Ali hold 130 points heading into the Dubai finale, whilst Scott Williams and Martin Campbell trail on 108 points with 70 points available across two races.
Salem Al Adidi and Eisa Al Ali arrive at Sunset Beach carrying a 22-point championship advantage, but Team GB remain within striking distance heading into the XCAT World Championship finale on December 12-14.
The Victory Team crew spoke to Powerboat News two days before Race 1 about their confidence, the team’s storied history, and the prospect of delivering Dubai a double world championship alongside Shaun Torrente’s F1H2O title charge.
Marit Strømøy arrives in the UAE for the most demanding fortnight of her 2025 season.
The Norwegian faces back-to-back championship finales across two series, competing in the XCAT finale in Dubai from 12-14 December before heading to Sharjah for the F1H2O season closer on 19-21 December.
Scott Williams leans back and delivers his Dubai mindset in a single phrase: Enjoy the weekend.
The 49-year-old Wirral racer trails Victory Team by 22 points heading into the UIM XCAT World Championship finale.
The Union Internationale Motonautique has opened public voting for its 2025 Driver of the Year and Junior Driver of the Year awards, with submissions accepted until December 16.
Seven senior nominees and four junior nominees representing six powerboat racing disciplines will compete for the recognition.
After two seasons learning XCAT racing, Francis Notschaele has partnered with one of offshore racing’s most decorated champions.
The approach came over breakfast in Saudi Arabia.
Victory Team hold a 22-point championship lead heading into the Dubai Grand Prix finale, where two races will determine the 2025 UIM XCAT World Championship.
Salem Al Adidi and Eisa Al Ali require just a pair of third-place finishes to claim the title, while Team GB must win both races and hope for Victory Team to falter.
The UIM Formula 4 World Championship will return in 2026 with three rounds across Belgium, Lithuania and Italy, featuring new safety regulations including mandatory crash boxes that take effect from 1 January.
The season opens at Monz, Belgium on 14-15 May before heading to Lithuania for a combined F2 and F4 event at Klaipėda on 5-7 June.
The UIM Formula 2 World Championship will return in 2026 with five rounds across Lithuania, Italy and Portugal, following the adoption of new regulations including long lap penalties by the UIM Council in Shanghai.
The season opens in Klaipėda, Lithuania on 5-7 June before heading to Brindisi, Italy two weeks later on 26-28 June.
Shaun Torrente dominated the inaugural Grand Prix of Jeddah from start to finish to seize the championship lead heading into the Sharjah finale.
The Victory Team driver led all 50 laps to claim his 12th career victory and move 14 points clear at the top of the standings.
Championship leader Alec Weckström and warm-up pacesetter Erik Stark will both start the Grand Prix of Jeddah from the back of the grid after engine changes triggered penalties that have transformed the race.
Weckström, who leads Shaun Torrente by a single point in the world championship, changed his engine between Friday’s sprint races and Saturday morning’s warm-up session.
Alec Weckström will start the Grand Prix of Jeddah from 17th position after an overnight engine change triggered a grid penalty that has transformed the championship battle.
Erik Stark topped the times in Saturday morning’s warm-up session for the Grand Prix of Jeddah, posting a best lap of 42.
533 seconds over the 30-lap session.
Shaun Torrente and Jonas Andersson claimed sprint race victories in Jeddah to set up a thrilling Grand Prix showdown with the world championship separated by just one point.
Torrente dominated Sprint Race 1 from pole position whilst Andersson recovered from his qualifying crash to win Sprint Race 2.
Shaun Torrente claimed an emotional pole position for the inaugural F1H2O Grand Prix of Jeddah on Friday morning, holding off defending champion Jonas Andersson in a thrilling qualifying session that ended with the Swede crashing out in the final seconds at the North Obhur Waterfront.
Shaun Torrente topped both practice sessions at the inaugural F1H2O Grand Prix of Jeddah on Thursday, posting the fastest lap of the day on his opening run in Free Practice 2 whilst several championship contenders encountered difficulties at the North Obhur Waterfront circuit.
The Victory Team driver clocked 42.
A power failure at the North Obhur Waterfront circuit has forced organisers to revise Thursday’s schedule at the inaugural F1H2O Grand Prix of Jeddah, reducing free practice from three sessions to two.
The American Power Boat Association has announced its 2026 Offshore National Series calendar, featuring six confirmed venues spanning May through November and marking Race World Offshore’s return to APBA sanctioning after the two organisations completed reunification negotiations.
The six-round schedule opens at Thunder on Cocoa Beach on May 15-17 before visiting Atlantic City, Michigan City, Clearwater and Englewood Beach ahead of the traditional season finale at Key West World Championship Week on November 1-8.
Mathilda Wiberg was awarded with the Smedjebacken kommun’s prestationsmedalj (achievement medal) during Monday evening’s kommunfullmäktige (municipal council) meeting, recognising her historic UIM F2 World Championship victory in September.
Kommunfullmäktige (municipal council) chair Carin Runeson presented the achievement medal to the 22-year-old Swedish driver, who became the first woman in history to win a Formula-class world championship.
The UIM E1 World Championship will race across four continents in 2026, with the all-electric series expanding to eight rounds and adding the Bahamas as its first Caribbean venue.
The season opens in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on 23-24 January before returning to Miami and venues that delivered strong attendance in 2025.
The UIM F1H2O World Championship heads to Saudi Arabia for the penultimate round of the 2025 season as Jeddah prepares to host its first Grand Prix on November 27-29.
The Red Sea coastal venue brings world championship powerboat racing to the kingdom for the first time after previous attempts in 2019 were cancelled due to adverse weather and 2020 plans fell victim to the COVID-19 pandemic.
I grew up watching exciting powerboat racing and raced in the inaugural Junior Runabout series and believe me this is not exciting .
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Rosario and Joseph Schiano Di Cola proved they are the real thing again in Race 2 of the Kuwait Grand Prix XCAT, the defending world champions capitalised on a first lap accident and the Sharjah Team’s second consecutive retirement to claim their first victory of the season.
Victory Team’s Salem Al Adidi and Eisa Al Ali came home 8.
The Pavia Motonautica Association has confirmed the 73rd Raid Pavia-Venezia will start on Sunday, May 31, 2026.
Registration for the world’s longest inland powerboat marathon opens on January 3.
The International Hot Rod Association has doubled its 2026 offshore racing prize purse to $2 million, just weeks after acquiring Powerboat P1 USA and announcing an initial $1 million commitment to the sport.
The organisation confirmed the increased purse following the Key West World Championship, where teams received payment immediately after the awards presentation.
Victory Team extended their world championship lead with a commanding victory in Race 1 of the Kuwait Grand Prix XCAT, Salem Al Adidi and Eisa Al Ali completing 13 laps in 33:13.
65 to finish more than a minute ahead of the home team.
Ten teams will contest the penultimate round of the 2025 UIM XCAT World Championship when Kuwait hosts Round 2 from 20-22 November, with the Victory Team fielding two boats.
Entry List Features Home Nation Kuwait Kuwait’s home entry features Abdullatif Al Omani and Khalid Ali, with Bader Al Dousari named as their reserve driver.
