Two boats break Arendal speed record in Class 1 Edox Speed Run

by Class-1 media on 18 Jul 2009 The organisers of the BMW Norwegian Grand Prix saw the record speeds they were hoping for today, reintroducing the 'flying kilometre' with the Class 1 Edox Speed Run, with two boats breaking the 'Arendal' speed record.

Appropriately, the record, 161.26mph/259.86kph, set in 1999 by Victory Team's double World Championship pairing of Saeed Al Tayer and Felix Serralles, stays in Dubai, with Fazza's World Championship partnership of Arif Al Zafeen and Nadir Bin Hendi covering the 'flying kilometre' in 13.025secs, posting the fastest time of 171.78mph/276.39kph.

The all-Norwegian pairing of Kolbjorn Selmer and Jorn Tandberg in Welmax also eclipsed the record, with 170.25mph/273.kph and Qatar 96's Sheikh Hassan and Steve Curtis going third fastest with 157.51mph/253.43kph.

CLASS 1 EDOX SPEED RUN – results

1. Fazza 3 - A Al Zafeen (UAE) / N Bin Hendi (UAE)
13.025s - 171.78mph/276.39kph
2. Welmax 90 – K Selmer (NOR) / J Tandberg (NOR) + dnf
13.142s - 170.25mph/273.93kph
3. Qatar 96 - H Al-Thani (QAT) / S Curtis (GBR) + 01.10,27
14.205 - 157.51mph/253.43kph
4. Victory 1 - M Al Mehairi (UAE) / JM Sanchez (FRA) + 01.36,13
14.428s – 155.07mph/249.51kph
5. Foresti & Suardi - Roscioli Hotels 8 – G Soave (ITA) / G Montavoci (ITA)
15.196s – 147.23mph/236.40kph
Qatar 95 - A Al-Sulaiti (QAT) / M Nicolini (ITA) – dnf
Maritimo 11 - T Barry-Cotter (AUS) / P V Nilsen (NOR) – dns
Maritimo 12 - G Manuzzi (SMR) / P McGrath (NZL) – dns
Giorgioffshore 18 – R Calugi (ITA) / N Giorgi (ITA) – dns
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The first official practice of this weekend's two-race BMW Norwegian Grand Prix exploded into life in the last few minutes of the session, when home favourite Welmax set a time well ahead of anything early pacesetters Fazza 3 and Qatar 96 could produce.

Last year's Norwegian Grand Prix winner and defending European Champion, Jorn Tandberg, set the quickest time in the final minutes of the opening practice session of the weekend. Tandberg and his new driver, Kolbjorn Selmer, blew away the competition in a time of 3mins 14.20secs, a full three seconds faster than their closest rivals and over four seconds quicker than any practice time from last year. The performance shows they have what it takes to be considered real contenders this weekend. Prior to setting their fastest lap, Selmer seemed full of confidence, saying: 'It feels great to be back in a Class 1 boat. I haven’t finished on the podium yet in my career and that is what I want from this weekend.'

Sheikh Hassan and Steve Curtis, who are looking to break their 'win duck' in Qatar 96, thought they had the fastest time with a lap of 3mins 17.34secs to jump ahead of the championship leaders Fazza 3, but had to settle for the second fastest time of the session. 'We are getting there, but we are still finding things out after the modifications we’ve made. There's room to improve and we need to find more acceleration,' said Curtis.

Reigning World Champion Nadir Bin Hendi and Arif Al Zafeen, Fazza 3, were both very relaxed about their time after posting 3mins 19.10secs, the third fastest of the day. 'We never look too much into times from the first period of testing. We'll go back to the pits, look over the data and work out how we will set up for practice on Saturday before the Edox Pole Position.'

Abdullah Al-Sulaiti and Matteo Nicolini’s time of 3mins 23.65secs sees them some way off the pace after the first session, and they will have it all to do in tomorrow's Edox Pole Position.

Foresti & Suardi – Roscioli Hotels' Giampaolo Montavoci, back racing with Giampiero Soave, who he raced with in the Portuguese Grand Prix back in 2004 posted a respectable time of 3mins 37.85secs to go fifth fastest.

Further down the field, there was nothing but frustration as Victory 1's Mohammed Al Mehairi and Jean-Marc Sanchez did not get to post a time, due to problems with their trim, whilst Nicola Giorgi and Riccardo Calugi in Giorgioffshore blew an engine that prevented them from completing a lap, with Maritimo Australia's bad luck continuing with both boats suffering computer issues.

FIRST PRACTICE – official times
1. Welmax 90 - K Selmer (NOR) / J Tandberg (NOR) – 03.14.20
2. Qatar 96 - H Al-Thani (QAT) / S Curtis (GBR) – 03.17.34
3. Fazza 3 - A Al Zafeen (UAE) / N Bin Hendi (UAE) – 03.19.10
4. Qatar 95 - A Al-Sulaiti (QAT) / M Nicolini (ITA) – 03.23.65
5. Foresti & Suardi - Roscioli Hotels 8 - G Soave (ITA) / G Montavoci (ITA) – 03.37.85
Victory 1 - M Al Mehairi (UAE) / JM Sanchez (FRA) – DNS
Giorgioffshore 18 – R Calugi (ITA) / N Giorgi (ITA) – DNS
Maritimo 11 - PV Nilsen (NOR) / T Barry-Cotter (AUS) – DNS
Maritimo 12 - G Manuzzi (SMR) / P McGrath (NZL) – DNS
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