The XDubai team of Arif Al Zaffain and Nadir bin Hendi waited until the dying seconds of this morning’s XCAT Pole Position session to book top spot in Sunday’s Cascais GP.

– Mark Webber: Nico Hulkenburg deserves top drive
– Le Mans: Abu Dhabi Proton-Racing qualify sixth
– Car of the week: The Maserati Ghibli S Q4

In a fiercely contested battle, the series’ defending champions overtook current leaders Abu Dhabi Team, with a fastest lap time of 2:33.70 with only seconds left of qualifying.

Their decision to go for one final lap paid off with Al Zaffain and Bin Hendi making the most of a dying wind.

Abu Dhabi Team will start Sunday’s race in second spot, having recorded a time of 2:35.46, with French team Yachts starting third after a fastest lap of 2:36.89.

Taking up the all-important final spot in the top gate will be T-Bone Station.

“The conditions changed a lot. It was getting better but at times the wind increased again so it was tough,” admitted an elated Al Zaffain afterwards.

“But I felt that the very last minutes would be the best so we went to play our last chance and that’s when we got the last two seconds off our time that we needed and we got first place.

“It’s a very good race track. It’s more like a Formula 1 track.”

Speaking about Sunday’s race, which kicks off at 3pm local time, Al Zaffain added: “I think tomorrow there will be a lot of competition, especially for the drivers and not so much for the throttlemen.

“The start will not be easy because I have seen that all the boats are fast. Our concern is to stay as far ahead as possible of number five [Abu Dhabi Team], as they are still leading the championship and we need as many points as possible.”

Team Abu Dhabi, meanwhile, are confident they can move ahead of XDubai during Sunday’s race.

“The water was very rough today and we had a great, fun time. We were pushing very hard to finish first but XDubai pushed harder and they finished ahead of us, but it’s ok. We can do something in the race,” said Abu Dhabi Team’s Rashed Al Tayer.

“In the race anything can happen so it’s not finished yet. We will wait for the race”

Teammate Faleh Al Mansoori added: “The conditions today were awesome. This is real XCAT weather – it’s really a race. The drivers can come and prove themselves in these kind of conditions.

“The plan tomorrow is to have fun, drive and try to finish first, that’s it.”

The Cascais GP takes place on Sunday, 14 June at 3pm. Viewers who aren’t in Portugal can follow all the action via live streaming by following the links on www.xcatracing.com.