Competing against some of the leading racers in the world to gain as much experience and boat time as possible, the pair settled in quickly to the rigours of the demanding weather and tricky water conditions to take another major step towards a first-ever podium finish in the F2 racing discipline.

Scandinavian drivers dominated the delayed qualifying session and pole sitter Erik Edin displayed his class with a dominant performance in the yellow-flag interrupted race on Sunday afternoon.

However, towards the end, the Swede lost the lead to the Latvian racer Uvis Slakteris. Austrian Rupert Temper finished second for the RSC-Regan team and England’s Owen Jelf rounded off the podium after Edin had slipped to fifth behind Russia’s Konstantin Ustinov.

“This was an impressive display from both Rashed and Mohammed in a difficult race,” said Salem Al-Romaithi, assistant general manager of the Abu Dhabi International Marine Sports Club (ADIMSC). “Both of them finished inside the top 10 and the whole team can take many positives away from another successful European race.”

Team Abu Dhabi is sponsored by Etihad Airways and runs under the patronage of HH Dr Sheikh Sultan Bin Khalifa Al-Nahyan, advisor to the Head of State and chairman of the board of directors of the Abu Dhabi International Marine Sports Club (ADIMSC).

The UIM F2 Championship now moves on to the Saone River and the French Grand Prix at Macon on September 10-11.