Majed Al Mansoori gets his chance in BMW Norwegian Grand Prix

ARENDAL, NORWAY // Majed Al Mansoori will replace John Tomlinson and sit alongside Rashid Al Tayer in Team Abu Dhabi's entry at this weekend's BMW Norwegian Grand Prix.

The Emirati has been a part of Team Abu Dhabi for a couple of years and has been a regular on the UIM F1 H20 racing scene.

The 30-year-old will take over the throttles to join his XCAT racing partner, having worked his way through the ranks from jet-ski racing and single-seater boats.

Al Tayer, on the other hand, has started 12 Class 1 Grand Prix to date and claimed a sensational double race win in Sweden last season, followed by victory at his home race last year and Pole Position at the April race meeting this year.

Al Mansoori will get his first taste of Class 1 competition in a practice session from 3pm (5pm UAE time) on Friday afternoon.

The Edox Pole Position begins at 3.15pm (5.15pm UAE time) on Saturday afternoon and race one will follow at 7pm. A one-hour practice session is permitted on Sunday morning and the second of the Norwegian Grand Prix races gets underway at 4.30pm.

This year he has been tackling rounds of the UIM F-4S Eurofin Trophy and has been forced to miss the fifth and sixth rounds of that series in Kazan this weekend to travel to Norway with the other half of Team Abu Dhabi.

The Emirati will be making his Class 1 offshore debut alongside Al Tayer on the fjord course at Arendal, one of the most popular racing venues in world offshore racing.

Al Tayer and Tomlinson recorded a pair of fourth place finishes at the first meeting of the year in Abu Dhabi in April and that was sufficient to propel the Team Abu Dhabi 5 boat into fifth in the championship, a mere point behind the tying Spirit of Qatar 95 and Fendi Racing 10 in third position.

Victory 3's Arif Saif Al Zafeen and Nadir bin Hendi recorded a pair of race wins in Abu Dhabi and now hold a 10-point early season advantage over the Spirit of Qatar 96 crew.