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DOHA: Qatar’s Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor Al Thani and Italian throttleman Matteo Nicolini survived a spectacular first lap crash in the Second Qatar Grand Prix, round five of this year’s UIM Class 1 World Power Boat Championship, here yesterday.

The race was won by the Anglo-Norwegian pairing of Steve Curtis and Bard Eker, on Spirit of Noray, who moved into a 12-point lead in the championship.

The early incident wrecked the Qatar 96 team’s chances of extending their four-point lead in the series and handed race winners Spirit of Norway the initiative with a mere two races remaining in the UAE.

The Qatar 96 team duo planned a new strategy over the opening laps, but their challenge was thwarted in dirty water on the first lap, as Spirit of Norway and Victory 77 hared off into the leading two positions. The boat flipped up into the air in a spectacular accident reminiscent to the one which had befallen both the Victory 77 and Victory 7 team boats in the first race meeting in Doha Bay last week.

Meanwhile, the Qatar 95 crew of Abdullah Al Sulaiti and Lino di Biase maintained a consistent pace throughout the race in their Mercury-engined hull and were rewarded with a season’s best finish in second overall, which moved them into the top five in the championship standings.

The Victory 77 boat, crewed by Jean-Marc Sanchez and Mohammed Al Marri, maintained their championship challenge with third overall and moved ahead of Qatar 96 by four points in the championship standings. The Italian team of Ceramiche Flaminia were an excellent fourth overall in only their second race of the season.

“I am delighted for Abdullah and Lino,” said Sheikh Hassan. “They suffered some bad luck at the start of the season, but have worked hard over the last couple of weeks with the new engines. This is a great result for them and proves that the Mercury engines will be competitive once more development is carried out.”

Qatar 96 boat, with Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor Al Thani and Italian throttleman Matteo Nicolini aboard, flipping into the air during a first lap crash in the Second Qatar Grand Prix, Round 5 of this year’s UIM Class 1 World Power Boat Championship in Doha yesterday photo below

What happened to the boat in the middle that looks like it a double blow over

This is the second time in two years that Qatar 96 has gone over. These are from Portugal last year.

Victory 77 also crashed over the weekend in Doha.

How do you find this stuff????

How do you blow over a 50 foot Tencara cat.

1HYPER1,

If it has a tunnel it can go over.