Al Qemzi signs off second F2 title with victory in Abu Dhabi season finale

Rashed Al Qemzi, already crowned 2019 UIM F2 World Champion, rounded off his season with a commanding victory in the Abu Dhabi finale, demonstrating one final time the dominance that had characterised both his campaign and that of Team Abu Dhabi throughout the year.

Eighteen drivers lined up on the start pontoon under heavy skies with rain threatening throughout. One notable absentee was Britain’s Steve Hoult, the Team WNT driver who had secured his place in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix with a strong performance in Portugal but was stranded in the pits with a broken transom before the race got underway.

Portugal’s Duarte Benavente made a superb start, gaining a clear boat length on Al Qemzi by the demarcation buoy. But the Portuguese driver had to leave room at the first turn, which Al Qemzi accepted immediately and surged through into the lead.

“It’s like being a superstar in your hometown.” Rashed Al Qemzi

Owen Jelf ran third before a gear case failure spat out his prop shaft and ended his race. That promoted Lithuania’s Edgaras Riabko, but Norway’s Tobias Munthe-Kaas was pressing him hard. Munthe-Kaas eventually collected a turn buoy, then narrowly avoided Stefan Hagin at turn three. With no power steering and an engine warning light showing, he retired.

As conditions on the water worsened past half-distance, Sweden’s Johan Österberg hit a wave and barrel-rolled out of the race. He was recovered by the rescue boat having badly bruised his foot, though he later confirmed he would return for the 2020 season. With Österberg’s boat safely towed in, the race restarted.

Sharjah Team’s Ferdinand Zandbergen, in contention for third in the championship standings, made a strong restart and passed Nikita Lijos before getting by Ola Pettersson just before turn four. Pettersson was not prepared to give the position up without a fight, and the contact that followed unsettled Zandbergen. On the next turn his hull barrel-rolled out of the race.

“Coming out of the restart I suddenly had great speed and got past Lijcs with ease. Just after the turn Ola barged into me and the next thing I remember was I was going for a swim.” Ferdinand Zandbergen

Pettersson’s own race ended in the same incident: his hull struck the upturned skeg of Zandbergen’s boat, ripping off his left-hand pickle fork and leaving him unable to continue.

With six laps remaining the surviving drivers had a sprint finish ahead of them, but none could close on Al Qemzi, who took the chequered flag to jubilation from the home crowd. Benavente crossed second, having run a clean race throughout.

“It’s been a very good day. I actually got ahead of Al Qemzi at the start, but I had to leave him some space at the turn. Once he was out in front, I knew he was in a position to control the race and even though we were posting identical lap times it still wasn’t enough to catch him. We came here to do a job. Yes, I would have loved to have won today but I’m satisfied with the runner-up position in the world championship.” Duarte Benavente

Riabko crossed third but had lost his power trim control after the final restart and was nursing the boat home.

“I was lucky. It was stuck in the middle, so I could keep the speed up going down the straights but had to be very careful in the turns.” Edgaras Riabko

Post-race inspection of Riabko’s engine block led to his disqualification, promoting Stefan Hagin to third and a first podium for his team. Team owner Steve Dillard was quick to put the result in context.

“Feels real good. Disappointed for Riabko but this is racing, and we are all extremely happy with our decision to run with Hagin. Today’s trophy is not just for us but all of those, including Dillard Financial Solutions, that have helped us throughout our second season of running in this great championship.” Steve Dillard, team owner

UIM F2 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi – result

2019 UIM F2 World Championship – final standings