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Podium spot for Victory Team in Michigan City

Chris Davies on 5th August 2019

Victory Team claimed their fifth podium finish in as many races after finishing in third at the Michigan City’s Great Lakes Grand Prix in the 2019 ABPA Offshore Championship Series held late on Sunday in Michigan City, Indiana.

Never off to a great start, the Victory Team pairing of Salem Al Adidi and Eisa Al Ali struggled to find the speed as 222 Offshore and Miss Geico took the top two spots to throw the overall championship race wide open with one final race to go in mid-October.

“We didn’t have the speed we wanted and that put us on the defensive right from the start,” Victory Team’s driver Al Adidi narrated.

“Yes, it is disappointing to end in third place behind two of the toughest competitors in the series. But we also know that we can be competitive on our day, just like we were in St Clair and Sarasota. There’s one more race to go in October and we hope to get everything in order and go all out and win the world championship,” he added.

The Victory Team has had been a front-runner at the 2019 ABPA Offshore Championship Series being held over six rounds. After five rounds, Victory Team and 222 Offshore are tied with two wins apiece, while Miss Geico has one win during the opening round on Cocoa Beach. Last week, Victory Team were uncatchable as they powered to an outright win in St Clair to put themselves at the top of the overall standings.

On Sunday, Victory Team gave it their all only to see Giovanni Carpitella and Darren Nicholson in their 222 Offshore boat take control from the start followed by Steve Curtis and Miles Jennings in their Miss Geico boat on an unpredictable surface of the Washington Park Beach area in Michigan City, Indiana.

“We struggled to keep up with the conditions in the spare boat,” Al Ali mentioned after their third-place finish.

“The team tried for the best set-up. We tried our best on the water out there, but somehow, we just couldn’t stay up with the top two. So, the better wisdom was in keeping our podium spot without taking any further risks so that we could get the points and then target the final round in Fort Myers,” he explained.

Huraiz Bin Huraiz, Chairman of the Board of Directors at Victory Team sounded optimistic of the team’s chances for yet another world crown when the sixth and final round is run in Fort Myers in the middle of October.

“Michigan City was a good race as it tested all the teams. Now we are in second place behind 222 Offshore, knowing fully well that only an outright win in Fort Myers will secure us the world title. We need to work accordingly as a team and bring in the crown,” Bin Huraiz stated.

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