Kazan, Russia (23rd June) - Not since Team Atlantic's Matt Palfreyman battled with Bimba Sjoholm in China last year have we seen a 'battle royale' between two drivers and again Palfreyman was involved.

When the seven strong pack left the grid it was the bright red Molgaard of Team Sweden's Jesper Forss leading the way chased by Palfreyman in an identical boat. Lap after lap there was never more than two boat lengths between them and several times the young British driver almost drew up alongside. With almost 75% of the race completed, Matt made a concerted charge to finally overhaul the Swede, who then appeared to ease back as 11 seconds seperated them at the chequered flag.

As he sat in his cockpit alongside the pontoon after his epic battle looking totally shattered we asked Forss why he lost so much ground after Palfreyman overtook "Look at my hands, blisters all over them, that was exhausting and I knew there was no way I could catch Matt so 2nd place is better than making mistakes that could end in trouble".

Matt was jubilant and any problems he had were forgotten as he secured another maximum score. Team Nautica's Tobias Munthe-Kaas filled 3rd place ahead of Leo Xiong, Mad Croc Viktor VO, Team Qatar's Khalid Al Kuwari and Mohamed Al Maharbi of Team Abu Dhabi.