'Doubleheader' for Grand Prix of Qatar

by Steven Michael on 23 Nov 2007
The 2007 U.I.M. F1 World Championship for power boating is going into 'overdrive' this weekend with a pair of back to back races in a three day period beginning with the fifth round of the championship along the corniche in downtown Doha for the third Annual Grand Prix of Qatar.

The 'doubleheader' will continue with the next race coming on Tuesday the 27th giving teams barely time to breathe, but with this rare event coming in such a short time, thus proving which team is actually ready to give their driver an honest effort for a world title.

At the halfway point of the 2007 season no one driver or team has established themselves as a clear favorite for the title. Each race in the first four meetings has had a different driver step forward and take a victory. At the opening Grand Prix in Portimao, Portugal defending World Champion Scott Gillman of the Emirates Team came away with his 23rd career win. Round two in La Rochelle, France saw Sami Selio of the F1 Team Energy group capture his first ever Grand Prix win in nine years of trying.

The next two rounds were in China within a three week period and Thani Al Qamzi of the Emirates Team picked up his second career victory in Xi’an while multi-time World Champion Guido Cappellini gave the Tamoil Team their fist win of the season and his 55th in his 18 years of racing on the tour.

True, the third year of the Grand Prix of Qatar along the corniche in downtown Doha is one of the newer U.I.M. F1 World Championship events, but for drama and spectacular drama, it is already one of legions.

The first event back in November of 2005, had currently ailing and defending World Champion Scott Gillman of the Emirates Team leading for pole and on his way to victory but with just 12 laps in the 50 lap event his engine quit and he failed to finish.

French driver Philippe Dessertenne who now drives for the CTIC China/Charente Maritime was leading at the time when Cappellini was able to get by and defeat him to the line for the victory.

In 2006 it was a one man show when rookie driver Ivan Brigada of the Tamoil Team won spectacularly from pole position and held off eventual champion Scott Gillman for his first victory of his career after just five starts.

Dessertenne is the only driver on the tour that has reached the podium at both previous events in Qatar. His 14 points this season has him tied for sixth place in the championship with Swedish driver Pierre Lundin, who needs to at least get another podium finish for any hope of a first title.

Selio, who is atop the leader board with 53 points, has finished both races in Doha with a third in 2005 followed by a sixth last season. Behind him is Cappellini with 50 points. The native of Como, Italy has won the only event he has finished along the corniche back in 2005.

Scott Gillman’s health leads most to believe that he is finished racing for the season. His young teammate, Al Qamzi, who is tied with him at 35 points, needs something special here to be a real factor when the series moves to the United Arab Emirates and Thani’s home race in the month of December.

The Qatar Team was on top of the world after the two first races of the season in Europe. Lead driver Jay Price of New Orleans, Louisiana gained the podium with a third in Portugal followed by a fourth in France. However, a disaster of a time in a pair of races in China with no finishes and no points makes this team wanting to do something big at their home race this week. Jay is currently fifth in the championship with 21 points holding a shot still for the title. Rookie teammate Leo Bonelli of Italy has points in all three races and sits tied for 13th with seven points.

Last season’s Rookie-of-the-Year candidate Jonas Anderson has looked like serious challenger this year finishing third at the Grand Prix of France and chasing hard for the lead in Xi’an but has finished just one race this season. He is adding a new teammate for the remainder of the campaign with friend Marit Stromoy coming over from racing on the European F2000 series this past summer. The likeable driver from Norway is expected to add some glamour to the series as she is the first women driver on the tour in over a decade and comes with a great resume.

David Trask and brother Bob from Australia are both fifth place finishers in Qatar. David doing so in 2005 and Bob in 2006 for his best finish ever. The X.P.V. Racing team has four finishes between them with only one being outside the top 10. David is ninth in the championship with 11 points, while Bob is 18th in the title run with four points.

Expect to see a rush of activity this week as both drivers and teams will be taxed to the utmost with two races in four days making this the most important week of the season thus far during its 26th season of F1.

Drivers from four different continents and well over 10 various nations will be competing on what maybe the roughest in-shore racing circuit anywhere in the world around downtown Doha. To say this will be a key time in the season would be an understatement.

Let the races begin on Saturday the 24th of November at the fifth Round of the U.I.M. F1 World Championship for power boating.

http://www.f1boat.com