September 3, 2007

Class 1 - Victory 77 wins Romanian Grand Prix and 2007 European Title

Victory 77 turns the first corner of the season by taking European title
Victory 77 took the third win of the season in an incident filled Romanian Grand Prix, round four of the WPPA Class 1 World Powerboat Championship, to clinch the 2007 WPPA Class 1 European Championship. Second place went to Qatar 96, with sister boat Qatar 95 completing the podium in third.
Following a chaotic start, with two boats appearing to go early, and despite starting from second place on the start line, Victory 77 was lying in third place at the end of lap 1, behind Negotiator, with Victory 7, out in front. They overhauled Negotiator a lap later and fought back to grab the lead on lap 6. For the next three laps, Victory 77 fought off a strong challenge from rivals Qatar 96, who had moved up through the field from fifth place on the first lap, to be challenging for the lead. On lap 10, Victory 77 took their first long-lap, but as they came off the lap, had to swerve violently to avoid Qatar 96, coming out of the turn. For the next 10 laps, Victory 77 kept a narrow advantage over Qatar 96, going on to take the win and extend their world championship lead to 19 points.
Second place for Qatar 96, the fourth consecutive podium of the season, was not enough for the duo to regain the European crown they won in 2005, but keeps them in the hunt for the overall title. Qatar 95’s first podium of the season was well deserved and hard fought for, with Al-Sulaiti and Luca Nicolini, moving from fifth place into third on lap 9.
Fourth place for Spirit of Norway was not the result they were looking for in a race that went wrong for them at the start, finding themselves down in eighth place at the end of lap 1 after starting from pole position. Having clawed their way back into fourth place, Gjelsten and Curtis then spun out on lap 7 while trying to pass Victory 7, dropping them back down the running order to sixth. And a penalty long-lap incurred several laps later for hitting a turn-buoy ended their hopes of a podium, and despite moving into third place in the title race, are now 30 points off the lead. But both Gjelsten and Curtis were clearly unimpressed and angered by the tactics used by some of their rivals. After a frustrating season so far and a difficult weekend, Negotiator produced easily it's best showing, bringing home a fifth place. Forseti & Sguardi 8, won their on-going battle with Spirit of Norway 20, finishing in sixth ahead of the Norwegian duo, with Jotun salvaging three points in eighth after breaking a propeller, with SeveneleveN and VM Foresti & Suardi picking up points in ninth and tenth. Victory 7 was the only retirement of the race, after breaking a propeller and damaging the boat.
ROMANIAN GRAND PRIX
1. Victory 77 – A Al Zafeen(UAE)/JM Sanchez (FR)
2. Qatar 96 – H Al Thani (QAT)/M Nicolini (ITA) + 00.12,12
3. Qatar 95 – A Al Sulaiti (QAT)/L Nicolini (ITA) + 01.33,87
4. Spirit of Norway 10 – B Gjelsten (NOR)/S Curtis (GB) + 02.10,83
5. Negotiator 50 – B Eker (NOR)/C Parsonage (GB) + 02.34,11
6. Foresti & Suardi 8 – M Pennesi (ITA)/G Montavoci (ITA) + 2 laps
7. Spirit of Norway 20 – T Barry-Cotter (AUS)/P Nilsen (NOR) + 2 laps
8. Jotun 90 – C Zaborowski (NOR)/J Tandberg (NOR) + 4 laps
9. SeveneleveN 18 – T Polli (ITA)/N Giorgi (ITA) +4 laps
10. VM Foresti & Suardi 2 – D Cirilli (ESP)/K Selmer (NOR) + 4 laps
Victory 7 – T Al Sayed (UAE)/N B Hendi (UAE) - dnf
WPPA CLASS 1 WORLD POWERBOAT CHAMPIONSHIP – after round 4 of 8
1. Victory 77 – A Al Zafeen(UAE)/JM Sanchez (FR) – 79pts
2. Qatar 96 – H Al Thani (QAT)/M Nicolini (ITA) – 60pts
3. Spirit of Norway 10 – B Gjelsten (NOR)/S Curtis (GB) – 49pts
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) – 22pts
7. Spirit of Norway 20 – T Barry-Cotter (AUS)/P Nilsen (NOR) – 20pts
8. Negotiator 50 – B Eker (NOR)/C Parsonage (GB) – 12pts
9. SeveneleveN 18 – T Polli (ITA)/N Giorgi (ITA) – 10pts
10. VM Foresti & Suardi 2 – D Cirilli (ESP)/K Selmer (NOR) – 5pts
11. Jotun 90 – C Zaborowski (NOR)/J Tandberg (NOR) - 3pts
WPPA CLASS 1 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP – after round 4 of 4
1. Victory 77 – A Al Zafeen(UAE)/JM Sanchez (FR) – 75pts
2. Qatar 96 – H Al Thani (QAT)/M Nicolini (ITA) – 54pts
3. Spirit of Norway 10 – B Gjelsten (NOR)/S Curtis (GB) – 41pts
4. Victory 7 – T Al Sayed (UAE)/N B Hendi (UAE) – 36pts
5. Qatar 95 – A Al Sulaiti (QAT)/L Nicolini (ITA) – 28pts
6. Foresti & Suardi 8 – M Pennesi (ITA)/G Montavoci (ITA) – 18pts
7. Spirit of Norway 20 – T Barry-Cotter (AUS)/P Nilsen (NOR) – 16pts
8= SeveneleveN 18 – T Polli (ITA)/N Giorgi (ITA) – 7pts
8= Negotiator 50 – B Eker (NOR)/C Parsonage (GB) – 7pts
10. Jotun 90 – C Zaborowski (NOR)/J Tandberg (NOR) - 3pts
11. VM Foresti & Suardi 2 – D Cirilli (ESP)/K Olsen (NOR) – 1pt
(world championship points include bonus points allocated to teams running engines for two consecutive races - one point, per engine, per race)

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