class-1 Dubai
 

23/11/2007

VICTORY 77 ON THE VERGE OF TITLE GLORY

Friday, 23 November, DUBAI (UAE): After an enthralling and compelling season, where spectacular racing has been matched by intense rivalries on and off the water, the final throws of the dice to decide the 2007 WPPA Class 1 World Powerboat Championship will unfold with two races in a week in Dubai, and the stage is set for yet another nail-biting finale, as the two remaining title challengers go head-to-head after a gruelling, season-long tussle.

Victory 77’s Jean-Marc Sanchez and Arif Saif Al Zafeen will line up for next weekend’s Mina Seyahi Grand Prix, round 7 of the WPPA Class 1 World Powerboat Championship, tantalisingly close to lifting their first World title and a record seventh for the mighty Dubai-based, Victory Team. If they finish ahead of their title rivals, the championship is theirs.

It has been a stellar season for Sanchez and Al Zafeen, racing together for the first time. They won the season opener in Athens, with Al Zafeen becoming the first rookie to win on his Class 1 debut and two wins later, in Romania, became the first rookie, and Sanchez the first Frenchman, to win the Class 1 European Championship. Their fourth win of the season last time out at the Qatar Grand Prix in Doha means they head into the penultimate race of the season with a 22-point advantage over their nearest rivals in the overall race for honours and a slender two point lead in the Middle East Championship.

Standing between Victory 77 and the title that they are so desperate to bring home, are Sheikh Hassan and Matteo Nicolini in Qatar 96, who simply have to finish ahead of Victory 77 and by a margin of three points or more if they are to take the battle for the World Championship down to the final race of the season, the Dubai Grand Prix on Saturday, 8 December. Sheikh Hassan and Nicolini are enjoying their best season to date, and with six podiums on the bounce are sure to keep the pressure on the leaders until the very last lap.

Spirit of Norway’s tenure as World Champions effectively ended in Qatar, when they limped out of the race on lap 15 with engine problems. But Bjorn Gjelsten and Steve Curtis could still add the Middle East Championship to the Edox Pole Position Championship - which they clinched in Doha with their fifth consecutive win in qualifying - by winning the final two races.

Outside of the lead trio, just 24 points separate the next five boats and the scramble for points and to be the best-of-the-rest may well become an unwelcome headache for Victory 77 and Qatar 96 as they fight it out for the title.

Victory 7’s Talib Al Sayed and Nadir Bin Hendi lead the chasing pack, and are undoubtedly quick, but have lacked the consistency seen in the opening two rounds, but if they pull it all together on race day, they will certainly be amongst the front runners. Abdullah Al-Sulaiti and Luca Nicolini, currently lying fifth in Qatar 95, are the pick of those running V8s, and fourth place in Arendal, a podium in Romania and fourth again in Qatar confirm their credentials.

The most improved outfit over the last three races is Negotiator, the only outfit in the championship running Sterling V8s, with Chris Parsonage and Bard Eker taking fifth, fourth and a podium last time out, and sees them on a hard-charge and climbing up the championship standings. Just two points behind them is Giampaolo Montavoci in Foresti & Suardi, who, after competing in the last two races in his second boat alongside Kolbjorn Selmer, is expected to be back in his favoured raceboat alongside Marco Pennesi, with Selmer remaining in Fainplast and likely to partner Mauro Esperto. Tom Barry-Cotter and Pal Nilsen will be trying to repeat the performances that have produced three top six finishes in their first season together, and will be aiming to add another, with Nicola Giorgi and Tomaso Polli hoping to see out the season in the Cougar with some solid points finishes. Whilst Jotun’s Christian Zaborowski and Jorn Tandberg will simply be wondering when the run of bad luck that has blighted their season, will end, and will be praying that they have a trouble-free race to realise their pace and potential.

The race weekend kicks off with official practice on Thursday, 29 November and the first opportunity for the teams to familiarise themselves with a revised course. A second practice session on Friday morning is followed by the Edox Pole Position in the afternoon and a final practice session on Saturday morning, followed by the Mina Seyahi Grand Prix.


Should be a good race! Good luck to all.

pat W

29/11/2007

QATAR 95 QUICKEST IN FIRST PRACTICE

Thursday, 29 November, DUBAI (UAE): Strong winds and rough seas greeted the teams as they took to the waters of the Arabian Gulf off the Mina Seyahi for today’s first official practice for Saturday’s Mina Seyahi Grand Prix, the penultimate round of the 2007 WPPA Class 1 World Powerboat Championship.

Today’s session gave teams their first opportunity to run the new 4.4Nm course with the early pace set by Qatar 96, 3m 5.48s, Spirit of Norway, 3m 9.92secs, with Victory 7, posting 3m 14.73s before race officials called a 10-minute halt to proceedings to move two buoy positions in the section of the course running inside Palm Island.

When the course reopened the lap times came down, with Qatar 95’s Abdullah Al-Sulaiti and Luca Nicolini knocking five seconds off their previous time, posting the fastest time of the session with 3m 5.06s to upstage their team-mates who decided not to go again and settled for just one lap. Spirit of Norway went again and improved their time, going third quickest with 3m 6.06s. Negotiator knocked 12 seconds of their time to record fourth fastest ahead of Victory 7, with Spirit of Norway 20 completing the top six.

Official Practice:
1. Qatar 95 – A Al Sulaiti (QAT)/L Nicolini (ITA) – 3m 5.06s
2. Qatar 96 – H Al Thani (QAT)/M Nicolini (ITA) – 3m 5.48s
3. Spirit of Norway 10 – B Gjelsten (NOR)/S Curtis (GB) – 3m 6.06s
4. Negotiator 50 – B Eker (NOR)/C Parsonage (GB) – 3m 8.81s
5. Victory 7 – T Al Sayed (UAE)/N Hendi (UAE) – 3m 14.73s
6. Spirit of Norway 20 – T Barry-Cotter (AUS)/P Nilsen (NOR) – 3m 19.25s
7. Fainplast 2 – K Selmer (NOR)/G Carpitella (ITA) – 3m 36.84s
8. Victory 77 – A Al Zafeen(UAE)/JM Sanchez (FR) – 3m 55.56s
9. SeveneleveN 18 – T Polli (ITA)/N Giorgi (ITA) – 4m 16.57s
Foresti & Suardi 8 – M Pennesi (ITA)/G Montavoci (ITA) – dns
Jotun 90 – C Zaborowski (NOR)/J Tandberg (NOR) – dns

Todays update.

what about class 3

I heard news of an accident involving an Australian.Any info appreciated.

30/11/2007

SIX IN A ROW FOR SPIRIT OF NORWAY

Friday, 30 November DUBAI (UAE): Spirit of Norway’s Bjorn Gjelsten and Steve Curtis made it six wins out of six after setting the fastest time in today’s Edox Pole Position, posting 3m 05.06s around the 4.4Nm circuit, on their first run of the qualifying session. "Going out first was the right thing to do and it is the same tactic we have applied pretty much all year, but our set-up wasn’t perfect and we didn’t actually have a great lap – but it was obviously better than anyone else could manage." said Steve Curtis. Norwegians Jorn Tandberg and Christian Zaborowski produced their best qualifying performance of the season to take second place in 3m 06.68s, with Abdullah Al-Sulaiti and Luca Nicolini, Qatar 95, also producing their best outing, going third quickest with a time of 3m 07.70s.

For Sheikh Hassan and Matteo Nicolini in Qatar 96, fourth fastest on the day may not have been the result they were looking for, knowing that they must go for the win in tomorrow’s Mina Seyahi Grand Prix, but they are where they need to be, ahead of their title rivals and championship leaders Victory 77, who, after suffering minor technical problems, will start from sixth position tomorrow, with Chris Parsonage and Bard Eker in Negotiator between them and Qatar 96, in fifth after producing their best performance in qualifying.

Spirit of Norway’s decision to try for a fast lap early in the session proved decisive as the strong winds and rough seas increased during the session, with the target time they set for their rivals, 3m 05.06s ultimately proving unbeatable. Spirit of Norway 20, Victory 77 and Fainplast’s new pairing, Kolbjorn Selmer and Giovanni Carpitella were next out but all failed to trouble the provisional pole sitters - Victory 77’s time of 3m 15.95s proving to be the best. The first real threat to Spirit of Norway came from Jotun with 3m 06.68s on their opener, missing out by less than two seconds to go second quickest, ahead of Victory 77. Negotiator’s opening gambit, 3m 18.09s fell short but put them into fourth spot, only to see their time immediately bettered by Qatar 95 with 3m 07.70s, and then by team-mates Qatar 96,with 3m 13.96s and both moving ahead of Victory 77.

Both Qatar boats went again, but failed to unseat Spirit of Norway or Jotun – despite Qatar 96 improving its time by six seconds - and with the clock counting down, Negotiator went for its second run and edged ahead of Victory 77, with Jotun failing to improve. Fainplast and SeveneleveN both improved on their second runs, with Victory 7 the only outfit to use all four laps, their best time, 3m 19.73s, set on their final run.

The championship leaders, Victory 77, line up for tomorrow’s Mina Seyahi Grand Prix in sixth place but with a 22-point lead, and know that if they can get ahead of their title rivals Qatar 96 and finish ahead of them, the world championship is theirs. But if Qatar 96 can stay ahead and finish with several boats between themselves and Victory 77, the championship will hinge on a nerve-tingling final race of the season in Dubai in a week’s time.

EDOX POLE POSITION – round 6
1. Spirit of Norway 10 – B Gjelsten (NOR)/S Curtis (GB) – 3m 05.06s
2. Jotun 90 – C Zaborowski (NOR)/J Tandberg (NOR) – 3m 06.68s
3. Qatar 95 – A Al Sulaiti (QAT)/L Nicolini (ITA) – 3m 07.70s
4. Qatar 96 – H Al Thani (QAT)/M Nicolini (ITA) – 3m 08.98s
5. Negotiator 50 – B Eker (NOR)/C Parsonage (GB) – 3m 15.29s
6. Victory 77 – A Al Zafeen(UAE)/JM Sanchez (FR) – 3m 15.95s
7. Victory 7 – T Al Sayed (UAE)/N Hendi (UAE) – 3m 19.73s
8. Spirit of Norway 20 – T Barry-Cotter (AUS)/P Nilsen (NOR) – 3m 21.07s
9. Fainplast 2 – K Selmer (NOR)/G Carpitella (ITA) – 3m 40.67s
10. SeveneleveN 18 – T Polli (ITA)/N Giorgi (ITA) – 3m 50.45s
Foresti & Suardi 8 – M Pennesi (ITA)/G Montavoci (ITA) – DNS

EDOX POLE POSITION CHAMPIONSHIP – after round 6 of 7
1. Spirit of Norway 10 – B Gjelsten (NOR)/S Curtis (GB) – 120pts
2. Victory 77 – A Al Zafeen(UAE)/JM Sanchez (FR) – 63pts
3. Qatar 96 – H Al Thani (QAT)/M Nicolini (ITA) – 61pts
4. Jotun 90 – C Zaborowski (NOR)/J Tandberg (NOR) 58pts
5. Victory 7 – A Al Sayed (UAE)/N Hendi (UAE) – 53pts
6. Qatar 95 – A Al Sulaiti (QAT)/L Nicolini (ITA) – 41pts
7. Spirit of Norway 20 – T Barry-Cotter (AUS)/P Nilsen (NOR) – 21pts
8. Foresti & Suardi 8 – M Pennesi (ITA)/G Montavoci (ITA) – 20pts
9. Negotiator 50 – B Eker (NOR)/C Parsonage (GB) – 19pts
10. SeveneleveN 18 – T Polli (ITA)/N Giorgi (ITA) – 7pts
11. Fainplast 2 – K Selmer (NOR)/G Carpitella (ITA) – 4pts





Was that for Class 1 or 3? As you can see above there was no news of an accident in class 1.

pat W

I am here in Dubai and there was no accidents today. Class III ran and it was:

1st: Old Mojo Boat with the Victory Team running the boat
2nd: Al Boom
3rd: H2o Magazine with Gary B. and Paul W. in the boat.

We are having a blast but the internet is somewhat lacking so I will post pics once I am back.

Class I tomorrow and I can't wait to see this show!!!

Cheers, Ben

Ben,

I heard the water was of respectable size today!

bumpy

Yes, it was rough! Quite rough!!!

I'll say!

Ben,

Did you guys stay at the sail?? play tennis on the roof?? or did you stay on the palm and buy a new condo??? I know you went skiing! because of the lack of pics!!! have a safe trip home. all 15 plus hours in the cattle car.:p

Congrats Gary B. on a third place finish, against 19 boats !!!! WOW ! Mike F.

Pete,
Did all of that and more! Pics will be posted once I am back in the States. My camera nor my shooting is a good as yours so don't expect much. Lot's of fun over here... And yes, I can't wait for that 15+ hour flight to Atlanta GA... Ask Tamm's can she come cook me breakfast when I get in at 5:30 am Monday morning...

Take care, Ben

Oh and today's Class 1 race was won by our buddy Stevie Curtis... (The announcer calls him Stevie over here...) Steve was great by the way, he gave us an upfront and behind the scenes look at Spirit of Norway's Team and Boat! And might I say, WOW!!! Thanks Steve!!!

Cya, Ben

Hey Ben,
look forward to the pics, Sorry Tamm's dont get up at 530 am to cook me breakfast. besides 15 hr on a plane they will feed you a few times especially in the baller section like you fly. have a safe trip home.

SPIRIT OF NORWAY TAKES WIN – VICTORY 77 CLINCH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

Saturday, 1 December, DUBAI (UAE): Spirit of Norway’s Bjorn Gjelsten and Steve Curtis took their third win of the season in today’s drama-filled Mina Seyahi Grand Prix, but it was Arif Saif Al Zafeen and Jean Marc-Sanchez, who, despite receiving a penalty long-lap for a jump start, grabbed the glory and the headlines, bringing Victory 77 home in fourth place to clinch the 2007 WPPA Class 1 World Powerboat Championship.

Abdullah Al-Sulaiti and Luca Nicolini produced their best result of the season finishing second in Qatar 95, some consolation for the team after Qatar 96 saw their title challenge end on lap 12 when mechanical problems reduced them to a crawl, with Sheikh Hassan and Matteo Nicolini eventually finishing down in ninth place. And there was more podium success for Negotiator’s Chris Parsonage and Bard Eker, finishing third for the second time in as many races.

But not for the first time this season, there was drama right from the start, resulting in penalty long laps being issued to Victory 7 and 77 later in the race. Victory 77 made a spectacular start moving from sixth place on the start line to lead by over seven seconds at the end of lap one, from Negotiator who made moved up from fifth, with the pole sitters Spirit of Norway down to third place. Victory 7 also made up places moving into fourth ahead of both Qatar boats, with Jotun the biggest loser on the opening lap, dropping from second down to eighth place.

Victory 77 stayed out front for the next six laps as the chasing pack exchanged long-laps and positions. On lap 8, Qatar 95 hit the front, only to concede to Spirit of Norway two laps later, with Victory 77 now third, ahead of Qatar 96 and Negotiator. By lap 13 Negotiator was up to third, with Victory paying the price of the penalty lap and down to fourth. The front runners would hold station for the remainder of the race, with Spirit of Norway taking the win and the lead in the Middle East Championship.

Behind the front runners Victory 7 and Spirit of Norway fought over the remaining top six positions, with Victory 7 grabbing the advantage on lap 15. Behind them Foresti&Suardi was battling with steering problems, but came in, in seventh ahead of Fainplast and an ailing Qatar 96 and SeveneleveN. Jotun’s disappointment continued, retiring on lap 7.
With the world title decided, the focus now switches to the Middle East Championship and the final race of the season in Dubai next week. Spirit of Norway’s win puts them two points ahead of Victory 77, with Negotiator now in third place, one point ahead of Qatar 96.

MINA SEYAHI GRAND PRIX - results
1. Spirit of Norway 10 – B Gjelsten (NOR)/S Curtis (GB)
2. Qatar 95 – A Al Sulaiti (QAT)/L Nicolini (ITA) + 00.08,26
3. Negotiator 50 – B Eker (NOR)/C Parsonage (GB) + 00.34,86
4. Victory 77 – A Al Zafeen (UAE)/JM Sanchez (FR) + 01.38,78
5. Victory 7 – T Al Sayed (UAE)/N B Hendi (UAE) + 2.17,56
6. Spirit of Norway 20 – T Barry-Cotter (AUS)/P Nilsen (NOR) + 1 lap
7. Foresti & Suardi 8 – M Pennesi (ITA)/G Montavoci (ITA) + 1 lap
8. Fainplast 2 – K Selmer (NOR)/G Carpitella (ITA) + 3 laps
9. Qatar 96 – H Al Thani (QAT)/M Nicolini (ITA) + 4 laps
10. SeveneleveN 18 – T Polli (ITA)/N Giorgi (ITA) + 4 laps
Jotun 90 – C Zaborowski (NOR)/J Tandberg (NOR) dnf

WPPA CLASS 1 WORLD POWERBOAT CHAMPIONSHIP – after round 7 of 8
1. Victory 77 – A Al Zafeen (UAE)/JM Sanchez (FR) – 127pts
2= Qatar 96 – H Al Thani (QAT)/M Nicolini (ITA) – 96pts
2= Spirit of Norway 10 – B Gjelsten (NOR)/S Curtis (GB) – 96pts
4. Qatar 95 – A Al Sulaiti (QAT)/L Nicolini (ITA) – 64pts
5. Victory 7 – T Al Sayed (UAE)/N B Hendi (UAE) – 62pts
6. Negotiator 50 – B Eker (NOR)/C Parsonage (GB) – 49pts
7. Foresti & Suardi 8 – M Pennesi (ITA)/G Montavoci (ITA) – 39pts
8. Spirit of Norway 20 – T Barry-Cotter (AUS)/P Nilsen (NOR) – 34pts
9. SeveneleveN 18 – T Polli (ITA)/N Giorgi (ITA) – 17pts
10. Jotun 90 – C Zaborowski (NOR)/J Tandberg (NOR) - 14pts
11. Fainplast 2 – K Selmer (NOR)/G Carpitella (ITA) – 8pts

WPPA CLASS 1 MIDDLE EAST CHAMPIONSHIP – after round 3 of 4
1. Spirit of Norway 10 – B Gjelsten (NOR)/S Curtis (GB) – 43pts
2. Victory 77 – A Al Zafeen (UAE)/JM Sanchez (FR) – 41pts
3. Negotiator 50 – B Eker (NOR)/C Parsonage (GB) – 33pts
4. Qatar 96 – H Al Thani (QAT)/M Nicolini (ITA) – 32pts
5. Qatar 95 – A Al Sulaiti (QAT)/L Nicolini (ITA) – 24pts
6. Foresti & Suardi 8 – M Pennesi (ITA)/G Montavoci (ITA) – 15pts
7. Victory 7 – T Al Sayed (UAE)/N B Hendi (UAE) – 14pts
8. Spirit of Norway 20 – T Barry-Cotter (AUS)/P Nilsen (NOR) – 10pts
9. Jotun 90 – C Zaborowski (NOR)/J Tandberg (NOR) - 5pts
10. Fainplast 2 – K Selmer (NOR)/G Carpitella (ITA) – 3pts
11. SeveneleveN 18 – T Polli (ITA)/N Giorgi (ITA) – 1pts

By the way it should be noted that Qatar 95 is powered my Mercury's and Negotiator 50 is powered by Sterling Engines. Mike D'Anniballe of Sterling Engines is over here supporting his engines too... Not bad for a couple of US companies going up against the Class 1 Lambo's...

Jotun and Spirit of Norway 20 also run Merc power i believe...

Good Job Jean Marc and Arif Saif and the rest of the Victory team!!!!

Congratulations on the 2007 Class 1 World Championship.

pat W

Nice! Great to see the old boat is still winning.

And yes, on top of that, they have ALL of the US stickers still on the boat even Stan and Grant's names as driver and throttleman on the canopy... They did remove the MOJO name though off of the sides. I'll post a pic of it soon.

Ben

That I gotta see. And I can think of a few people that would be interested too.

Some pics from the Class 1 race.

http://www.proprider.com/forum/showt...p?t=331&page=2

I've got pics...

out with them...

ben, hurry up.

For some reason Bens results were not accurate, I was told.....

DAMAS won (Quiver Copy)
MOJO 2nd 32 DW
H2O 3rd 32 DW
KingFisher 4th Original SeaTow/Mapei 32 DW

Nice going Ben, Now where are those pics!!!!

Here ya go, the old MOJO boat in all of it's glory. Complete with all the orginal stickers except for the big MOJO on the sides. Enjoy, Ben

Ryan,
Then it changed after we left because the MOJO boat was given the first place podium and trophy. And The Dumas boat is called Al BOOM (S-11) now, not Dumas.

Here are the Class 3 boats in order as they listed them while we were there.

S-11 AlBoom
S-9 UMM AL QUWAIN
S-19 H2O Throttleup Magazine

Thanks Ben!

Dumas or DUMASS???? I was just relaying what PW told me.....more PICS PLEASE....of the hardware....