Friday, March 29:  Team Abu Dhabi announced after pole position qualifying on Friday that Emirati racer Rashed Al-Qemzi will replace Alberto Comparato alongside Thani Al-Qamzi for the remainder of this weekend’s Grand Prix of Bình Định-Vietnam in Quy Nhơn.

Comparato was involved in a spectacular crash during the Q1 session and the flip and subsequent barrel-roll badly damaged the Italian’s DAC. Although uninjured, the Italian was visibly shaken by the incident and team manager and multiple World Champion Guido Cappellini has decided that he should rest up with his place to be taken in the spare boat by Al-Qemzi for Saturday’s free practice session and Sprint race and Sunday’s Grand Prix on Thi Nai Bay.

Al-Qemzi is a four-time UIM F2 World Champion and took part in three races last season as a stand-in for Al-Qamzi in China, as a replacement for the suspended Shaun Torrente in Sardinia and in the team’s third boat in Sharjah. This will be the Emirati’s 11th GP start since he made his debut in 2016.