Title Race reaching fever pitch - Qatar Grand Prix

by Class 1 Event media on 10 Nov 2007 With three races remaining in the 2007 WPPA Class 1 World Powerboat Championship, the race for the title is reaching fever pitch. Fuelled by an intense rivalry, the sports three heavyweights, Victory 77, Qatar 96 and Spirit of Norway 10, remain locked in an unforgiving three-way battle for championship honours, with no quarter asked and none given.

The fast and flowing circuit around Palm Tree Island on Doha Bay has seen some spectacular racing action and dramatic incidents in recent years, and this year’s Qatar Grand Prix (15-17 November), round 6 of the WPPA Class 1 World Powerboat Championship, could well prove pivotal in the outcome of title race.

Victory 77’s Arif Al Zafeen and Jean-Marc Sanchez have led the championship standings from round one in Athens, and with the luxury of an 18 points advantage, hold the whip-hand in the title race, and although they would clearly like to try and wrap things up sooner than later, with points in hand do not need to take risks or push for the race win in Doha. But they are being stalked with a ferocious intent by Sheikh Hassan Bin Jabor Al-Thani and Matteo Nicolini, Qatar 96 and the defending World Champions, Bjorn Gjelsten and Steve Curtis in Spirit of Norway, both outfits posting notice last time out at the Egyptian Grand Prix in Porto Marina, that neither is in any mood to concede the title without a monumental fight, and both finishing ahead of the current leaders after a memorable race – Spirit grabbing their second win of the season, with Qatar 96 second and Victory 77, third.

The title battle is intriguing – Qatar 96 and Spirit of Norway must win - at least finish ahead of Victory 77 in Doha and in the remaining races – but that still may not be enough, so will be looking to team-mates, Qatar 95 or in Spirit of Norway’s case, the likes of Jotun and Negotiator, to join the fight for podium places and points and shut out the leaders, whilst Victory 77 will look to their team-mates, Talib Al Sayed and Nadir Bin Hendi in Victory 7 to get ahead of or between them and their championship rivals.

After impressive performances in Egypt, where both challenged strongly for podium finishes before technical problems ended their hopes, Abdullah Al-Sulaiti and Luca Nicolini, Qatar 95 and Jorn Tandberg and Christian Zaborowski, Jotun – both running the Mercury V8s - look likely challengers to cause the top three problems, and will be hoping for trouble free runs to give themselves the chance to capitalise on their pace. Negotiator’s Chris Parsonage and Bard Eker could also be up there in the mix, now that they have found reliability with the Sterling V8s and will be looking to improve on their fourth place in Egypt.

It is unlikely that Giampaolo Montavoci will get the rough conditions that he clearly excels in, and after a heroic performance in the last race, wringing every ounce of performance out of his number two boat to grab fifth spot, following his crash in pole position, will be hoping Foresti & Suardi is repaired in time for him to partner Marco Pennesi, with Kolbjorn Selmer getting back into Fainplast alongside Mauro Esperto. Tom Barry-Cotter and Pal Nilsen will want to get back into a points scoring position in the second Spirit of Norway boat as will Nicola Giorgi, with Tomaso Polli returning to drive SeveneleveN after missing the last race.

The first action takes place on Thursday, 15 November, with the first official practice session, giving the teams the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the revised course around Palm Tree Island on Doha Bay. Second practice on Friday is followed by the fifth Edox Pole Position of the season in the afternoon, with the final practice session and the 20 lap, 92.88Nm Qatar Grand Prix on Saturday, 17 November.

Of the leading protagonists, Spirit of Norway has by far the best record in Doha winning five times since the first Qatar Grand Prix was held in 2002. Victory 77 grabbed their only win here in 2005 and last year the Qatar Camp took their first win on home waters, with Qatar 95 stealing the headlines from Qatar 96 – but this weekend it just might be their turn to take the race win.


WPPA CLASS 1 WORLD POWERBOAT CHAMPIONSHIP – after rounds 5 of 8

1. Victory 77 – A Al Zafeen(UAE)/JM Sanchez (FR) – 93pts
2. Qatar 96 – H Al Thani (QAT)/M Nicolini (ITA) – 75pts
3. Spirit of Norway 10 – B Gjelsten (NOR)/S Curtis (GB) – 69pts
4. Victory 7 – T Al Sayed (UAE)/N B Hendi (UAE) – 44pts
5. Qatar 95 – A Al Sulaiti (QAT)/L Nicolini (ITA) – 36pts
6. Foresti & Suardi 8 – M Pennesi (ITA)/G Montavoci (ITA) – 29pts
7. Negotiator 50 – B Eker (NOR)/C Parsonage (GB) – 23pts
8. Spirit of Norway 20 – T Barry-Cotter (AUS)/P Nilsen (NOR) – 20pts
9. SeveneleveN 18 – T Polli (ITA)/N Giorgi (ITA) – 14pts
10. Jotun 90 – C Zaborowski (NOR)/J Tandberg (NOR) - 12pts
11. Fainplast 2 – K Selmer (NOR)/M Esperto (ITA) – 5pts

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