Class 1 - Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

RACE 1

Dubai’s Victory Team is celebrating a remarkable twelfth World Championship success after a convincing win in race 1 of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix by Arif Al Zafeen and Mohammed Al Marri.
The Victory duo seemed unfazed after finding themselves in third place after the start and played a waiting game, coming from behind to take their sixth win of the season to seal a fifth World title for Al Zafeen and a third for Al Marri.
Today’s win also secures a sixth Middle East Championship for Victory after dropping just eight points in five starts, with Al Zafeen winning both titles for the last four years.
Luca Formilli Fendi and Giovanni Carpitella raced to their third podium of the year bringing LFFendi10 home in second place, with Darren Nicholson and Peter McGrath, running under the Victory Australia banner, producing yet another outstanding performance to make it three podiums from five outings in their short end of season stint in Class 1, finishing third.
From the green flag Al Zafeen and Al Marri watched as the Italian duo in LFFendi10 came from sixth place on the line and raced into a comfortable lead on the rough 2Nm start run outside Lulu Island to lead by five seconds at the end of lap1.
Nicholson and McGrath were up into second ahead of their adopted teammates Victory, with Guido Cappellini and Giampaolo Montavoci in Spirit of Gabon-Poliform in fourth and Team Abu Dhabi’s Rashed Al Tayer and Majed Al Mansoori in fifth.
LFFendi10 extended their lead after opting to run their two mandatory short laps immediately, to open up a 17 second gap but now over Spirit of Gabon-Poliform and Zabo-Isiklar who also went for the short laps early.
But by the end of lap 5 with all boats having run their short laps, Victory hit the front to lead by 9 seconds with LFFendi10 second and Victory Australia third.
The leading trio remained line astern for the remaining 5 laps with Al Zafeen and Al Marri running out the comfortable winners by 34 seconds. “It was always our plan to take it easy at the start and not to take any risks,” said Arif Al Zafeen after his 29th career win.

A third podium in six outings since they switched into their Victory hull has now moved Fendi and Carpitella up into third place in the overall Championship standings, with Luca Formilli Fendi understandably pleased with the result.
Nicholson and McGrath’s short time on the tour just gets better and better, the Australian-New Zealand pairing now boasting two race podiums and one from yesterday’s qualifying.
Team Abu Dhabi’s hopes of a podium finish on home waters disappeared after dropping a place at the start, but Al Tayer and Al Mansoori regained the place on lap five to finish in fourth and secure the runners-up slot in the World and Middle East Championship standings.
Spirit of Gabon-Poliform and Zabo-Isiklar battled it out in the latter stages and enjoyed a six lap tussle for fifth and six spots, Cappellini and Montavoci winning the duel to finish in front by just four seconds, with both FARO ACCIAI and Subseapilot going the distance and picking up valuable points.
ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX, RACE 1 – Results
1. 3 Victory - A Al Zafeen (UAE) / M Al Marri (UAE) 00.29.49,34
2. 10 Fendi Racing - L Formilli Fendi (ITA) / G Carpitella (ITA) + 00.34,39
3. 7 Victory Team of Australia - D Nicholson (AUS) / P Mc Grath (NZL) + 00.38,39
4. 5 Team Abu Dhabi - R Al Tayer (UAE) / M Al Mansoori (UAE) + 00.52,72
5. 74 Poliform - G Cappellini (MON) / G Montavoci (ITA) + 01.25,00
6. 91 Zabo Isiklar - U Isik (TUR) / C Zaborowski (NOR) + 01.29,00
7. 23 FA.RO. ACCIAI - G M Gabbiani (ITA) / L Nicolini (ITA) + 1 LAP
8. 8 Subseapilot - Y Bratland (NOR) / B Jacobsen (NOR) + 1 LAP
RACE 2
Arif Al Zafeen and Mohammed Al Marri completed their Abu Dhabi Grand Prix treble after cruising to a comfortable Victory in race 2.
Today’s win, their seventh of the season, ends a near perfect season for the Champions, claiming top spot in the World, Middle East and Edox Pole Position Championships.
Luca Formilli Fendi and Giovanni Carpitella maintained their impressive run of form to finish on the podium for the second time in two days bringing LFFendi10 home in second place, with Zabo-Isiklar’s Ugur Isik and Christian Zaborowski ending their season on a high with a well-deserved first podium of the year and clinching fourth place in the Championship.
The newly crowned Champions were in a league of their own and took the initiative from the start and led the race from flag to finish and at no time came under any pressure.
By mid-race Al Zafeen and Al Marri had eased out to a 30 second lead and were in cruise control and able to back off in the closing stages to win the 14 lap, 70.17Nm race by 12 seconds.
Luca Formilli Fendi and Giovanni Carpitella completed their hat-trick of race podiums to round off a very strong second half the year, but had to hold off a strong challenge from Zabo-Isiklar in the closing stages.
Zabo Racing’s habit of ending their seasons on the podium continued, with Isik and Zaborowski’s strategy of taking their second short lap late paying dividends, moving them up from sixth place at the end of lap six into third spot a lap later.
For the remainder of the race they piled the pressure on and chased down LFFendi10 closing the gap too under five seconds.
For the first Grand Prix this season Team Abu Dhabi missed out on a podium finish, with Rashed Al Tayer and Majed Al Mansoori again finishing in fourth.
Gian Maria Gabbiani and Luca Nicolini did not have the pace to run with the others but did have the reliability, ending a positive weekend for the team picking up their best result of the year finishing in fifth spot.
There was disappointment for Victory Team Australia’s Darren Nicholson and Peter McGrath who were running in second place when their race came to an abrupt end after a broken torque sensor forced them to stop on lap seven.
Subseapilot lasted just two laps with Yngve Bratland and Bjorge Jacobsen returning to the pits with an engine problem, Poliform-Spirit of Gabon’s Guido Cappellini and Giampaolo Montavoci following them in on lap 10, also with an engine issue.
ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX, RACE 2 – Results
1. 3 Victory - A Al Zafeen (UAE) / M Al Marri (UAE) 00.42.31,12
2. 10 Fendi Racing - L Formilli Fendi (ITA) / G Carpitella (ITA) + 00.11,71
3. 91 Zabo Isiklar - U Isik (TUR) / C Zaborowski (NOR) + 00.16,97
4. 5 Team Abu Dhabi - R Al Tayer (UAE) / M Al Mansoori (UAE) + 00.24,16
5. 23 FA.RO. ACCIAI - G M Gabbiani (ITA) / L Nicolini (ITA) + 03.10,71
6. 74 Poliform - G Cappellini (MON) / G Montavoci (ITA) dnf
7. 7 Victory Team of Australia - D Nicholson (AUS) / P Mc Grath (NZL) dnf
8. 8 Subseapilot - Y Bratland (NOR) / B Jacobsen (NOR) dnf
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP - after race 8
1. 3 Victory Team - 177pts
2. 5 Team Abu Dhabi - 127pts
3. 10 Fendi Racing - 87pts
4. 91 Zabo Isiklar - 63pts
5. 96 Spirit of Qatar - 53pts
6. 95 Spirit of Qatar - 45pts
7. 7 Victory Team of Australia - 37pts
8. 23 FA.RO ACCIAI - 34pts
9. 74 Spirit of Gabon - Poliform - 22pts
10. 8 Subseapilot - 7pts
11. 90 Welmax - 5pts
12. 9 Welmax - 0pts
MIDDLE EAST CHAMPIONSHIP - after race 6
1. 3 Victory Team - 112pts
2. 5 Team Abu Dhabi - 75pts
3. 10 Fendi Racing - 52pts
4= 91 Zabo Isiklar - 33pts
4= 7 Victory Team of Australia - 33pts
6. 96 Spirit of Qatar - 32pts
7. 23 FA.RO ACCIAI - 23pts
8. 95 Spirit of Qatar - 9pts
9. 74 Spirit of Gabon - Poliform - 7pts
10. 8 Subseapilot - 3pts
11. 90 Welmax - 0pts
www.class-1.com

Class 1 - Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Preview

Arif Al Zafeen and Mohammed Al Marri will make the short journey from the team’s headquarters in Dubai for the final Grand Prix of the year in Abu Dhabi (19-21) with the title all but won, and needing just a handful of points to win a remarkable 12th World title for Victory Team.
The Champions elect need to finish ahead of their neighbours Team Abu Dhabi who can still mathematically win the Championship should Victory suffer some kind of monumental meltdown – which is highly unlikely.
With the Edox Pole Position Championship already won Al Zafeen and Al Marri will now be looking to complete the season grand slam. After five wins and two further podium finishes they sit at the top of the World Championship standings with 137 points, 32 clear of Rashed Al Tayer and Majed Al Mansoori and lead them in the Middle East Championship by 15 points.
Victory Team’s trophy haul began back in 1993, winning the World title in their debut season. Over the last two decades they have won 91 races from 167 starts en route to 11 World tiles, winning the European Championship seven times, the Middle East Championship five times and picking up eight Pole Position titles.
With Sheikh Hassan disappointingly calling time on the Spirit of Qatar Team’s Class 1 campaign after boycotting race 2 in Dubai, the door is left open for a clutch of teams to battle it out for podium honours, with Team Abu Dhabi and LFFendi10 looking to carry the fight to Victory.
Rashed Al Tayer and Majed Mansoori have pushed their UAE cousins hard all year and have enjoyed their best season since teaming-up in Norway in 2010, picking up six podium finishes and will be looking to close out their year with a win on home waters.
Despite boycotting race 2 last weekend LFFendi10 will line up in Abu Dhabi, with Luca Formilli Fendi and Giovanni Carpitella all set to secure third spot in the World Championship standings but they may well have to stave off a challenge from Darren Nicholson and Peter McGrath - who were impressive in their first outing in the Championship in Dubai running in the latest generation Victory hull with a fourth and a podium finish - in the fight for a top three finish in the Middle East Championship.
Ugur Isik and Christian Zaborowski matched their best performance of the season in Dubai with a fourth place in Zabo-Isiklar and will be intent on maintaining their top six status despite being limited in their choice of set-up, with FARO ACCIAI’s Gian Maria Gabbiani and Luca Nicolini looking to build on their double points finish last time out.
After just one points finish from seven starts Guido Cappellini and Giampaolo Montavoci will be hoping to close out a frustrating year with a trouble free run in Spirit of Gabon-Poliform, with Subseapilot's Yngve Bratland and Bjorge Jacobsen hoping for their first points of their UAE campaign.
First Practice takes place on Wednesday from 11.30-13.00hrs (local) with official qualifying in the Edox Pole Position at 15.30hrs. A second practice session on Thursday morning at 10.30hrs is followed by Race 1 of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - 10 laps / 49.97Nm at 15.30hrs, with a final practice session on Friday morning at 10.30hrs and Race 2– 14 laps / 70.17Nm at 15.30hrs.
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP - after race 7
1. 3 Victory Team - 137pts

2. 5 Team Abu Dhabi - 105pts

3= 96 Spirit of Qatar - 53pts

3= 10 Fendi Racing - 53pts

5. 95 Spirit of Qatar - 45pts

6. 91 Zabo Isiklar - 42pts

7. 7 Victory Team of Australia - 21pts

8. 23 Fa.Ro Acciai - 19pts

9. 74 Spirit of Gabon - Poliform - 13pts

10. 90 Welmax - 5pts

11= 9 Welmax - 0pts

12= 8 Subseapilot - 0pts
MIDDLE EAST CHAMPIONSHIP - after race 4
1. 3 Victory Team - 72pts

2. 5 Team Abu Dhabi - 57pts

3. 96 Spirit of Qatar - 32pts

4. 10 Fendi Racing - 22pts

5. 7 Victory Team of Australia - 21pts

6. 91 Zabo Isiklar - 16pts

7. 23 Fa.Ro Acciai - 12pts

8. 95 Spirit of Qatar - 9pts

9= 74 Spirit of Gabon - Poliform - 0pts

9= 90 Welmax - 0pts

9= 8 Subseapilot - 0pts
EDOX POLE POSITION CHAMPIONSHIP - after round 4
1. 3 Victory Team - 75pts

2. 5 Team Abu Dhabi - 45pts

3. 96 Spirit of Qatar - 35pts

4. 95 Spirit of Qatar - 31pts

5. 10 Fendi Racing - 24 pts

6. 90 Welmax - 16pts

7. 9 Welmax - 12pts

8= 74 Poliform - 9pts

8= 91 Zabo Isiklar - 9pts

10. 7 Victory Team of Australia - 7pts

11. 23 Fa.Ro. Acciai - 5pts

12. 8 Subseapilot - 3pts

www.class-1.com

Class 1 - Dubai Grand Prix

RACE 1

Sheikh Hassan Bin Jabor Al-Thani and Steve Curtis produced a brilliant tactical drive in rough conditions off the Mina Seyahi to come from behind to take their second win of the season in race 1 in Dubai of the Emirates-Dubai Duty Free and Skydive Dubai Grand Prix.

The pole-sitters and 2012 Champions elect, Arif Al Zafeen and Mohammed Al Marri saw their hopes of victory disappear in the latter stages to finish in second place ahead of Luca Formilli Fendi and Giovanni Carpitella in LFF10.

The decision by the Spirit of Qatar 96 crew to take their two mandatory long-laps early after a poor start dropped them to third place behind LFF10 and the early race leader’s Victory, paid off.

They began their fight back as the front two runners went for their long laps and on lap six passed LFF10 and then set about overhauling the 40-second deficit to Victory.

By lap eight they had cut the gap to ten seconds, passing the Championship leader’s two laps later to go on and take the win by 14-seconds, completing the 12 laps/53.76Nm in 38:03.77s.

Despite a brilliant start by Al Zafeen and Al Marri and easing out to a comfortable lead in the early stages of the race, an engine issue in the closing laps and second place means their hopes of trying to close-out the Championship in front of their home crowd now depends on them winning race 2 and Team Abu Dhabi, who finished in fourth place, finishing outside the top six.

Luca Formilli Fendi and Giovanni Carpitella mirrored their performance in official qualifying, but a ballast issue mid-race prevented them from holding off the Spirit of Qatar charge to the front, costing them a possible second spot.

Peter McGrath and Class 1 newcomer Darren Nicholson survived one or two nervous moments in the new Victory hull, running as Victory Team Australia, coming home in fifth place despite being given a time penalty for missing a turn buoy, ahead of Zabo-Isiklar and FA.RO Acciai.

A 360 spin-out on lap two ended Guido Cappellini and Giampaolo Montavoci’s race, with Yngve Bratland and Bjorge Jacobsen’s Subseapilot stopping on the same lap with a technical problem. Ali Al Neama and Matteo Nicolini failed to make the start after damaging Spirit of Qatar 95 in qualifying.

EMIRATES/DUBAI DUTY FREE and SKYDIVE DUBAI GRAND PRIX, RACE 1 – Results

1. 96 Spirit of Qatar - H Al Thani (QAT) / S Curtis (ENG) - 00.38.03,77

2. 3 Victory - A Al Zafeen (UAE) / M Al Marri (UAE) + 00.14,72

3. 10 Fendi Racing - L Formilli Fendi (ITA) / G Carpitella (ITA) + 00.35,56

4. 5 Team Abu Dhabi - R Al Tayer (UAE) / M Al Mansoori (UAE) + 02.46,00

5. 7 Victory Team of Australia - D Nicholson (AUS) / P Mc Grath (NZL) + 03.57,00

6. 91 Zabo Isiklar - U Isik (TUR) / C Zaborowski (NOR) + 1 LAP

7. 23 FA.RO. Acciai - G M Gabbiani (ITA) / L Nicolini (ITA) + 2 LAPS

8. 8 Subseapilot - Y Bratland (NOR) / B Jacobsen (NOR) dnf

9. 74 Poliform - G Cappellini (MON) / G Montavoci (ITA) dnf

10. 95 Spirit of Qatar - A Al Neama (QAT) / M Nicolini (ITA) dns

RACE 2

Arif Al Zafeen and Mohammed Al Marri cruised to a somewhat hollow victory in the Skydive Dubai Grand Prix, following extraordinary scenes before the start with three boats boycotting the race and returning to the pits.

The decision by Spirit of Qatar’s team principal Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor Al-Thani and Luca Formilli Fendi to boycott the race hinged on the fact that they [teams] were informed of the decision to change the course 45 minutes before the start of the race, and that Victory were late to the race pontoon because they were changing their set-up.

Despite all teams being given the opportunity by UIM Race Commissioner Gordon Sutherland to return to the pits to change set-ups, only Darren Nicholson and Peter McGrath of Victory Team Australia took up the option.

Not for the first time over the race weekend the weather was the powerful dictator, forcing race officials to shorten the course for the mornings practice and then reduce it considerably further and run a ‘storm course’ due to the extreme conditions on the outside leg.

With Subseapilot already side-lined after losing their escape hatch and damaging the boat in the morning session, and the withdrawal of both Qatar boats and LFF 10, six lined up for the revised 13 lap 42.14Nm race with officials opting for a rolling start with the boats running line stern.

The absence of yesterday’s race winner and third placed boat handed the advantage to Al Zafeen and Al Marri who disappeared into the distance from the green flag and were unchallenged throughout, and cruised to their fourth win of the year to extend their lead in the Championship standings to 30 points.

Team Abu Dhabi’s Rashed Al Tayer and Majed Al Mansoori added to their podium haul with an untroubled second place to keep them insight of their UAE rivals in the title race.

Class 1 newcomer Darren Nicholson and Class 1 returnee Peter McGrath took full advantage of the situation to celebrate their entry into the Championship finishing in third place in Victory Team Australia, with Zabo-Isiklar and FARO ACCIAI picking up valuable points coming home in fourth and fifth spots, but there was frustration for Spirit of Gabon-Poliform who stopped on lap 1.

EMIRATES/DUBAI DUTY FREE and SKYDIVE DUBAI GRAND PRIX, RACE 2 – Results

1. 3 Victory - A Al Zafeen (UAE) / M Al Marri (UAE) 00.28.16,28

2. 5 Team Abu Dhabi - R Al Tayer (UAE) / M Al Mansoori (UAE) + 00.08,77

3. 7 Victory Team of Australia - D Nicholson (AUS) / P Mc Grath (NZL) + 00.48,36

4. 91 Zabo Isiklar - U Isik (TUR) / C Zaborowski (NOR) + 01.28,00

5. 23 FA.RO. Acciai - G M Gabbiani (ITA) / L Nicolini (ITA) + 2 LAPS

6. 74 Poliform - G Cappellini (MON) / G Montavoci (ITA) dnf

96 Spirit of Qatar - H Al Thani (QAT) / S Curtis (ENG) dns

95 Spirit of Qatar - A Al Neama (QAT) / M Nicolini (ITA) dns

10 Fendi Racing - L Formilli Fendi (ITA) / G Carpitella (ITA) dns

8 Subseapilot - Y Bratland (NOR) / B Jacobsen (NOR) dns

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP - after race 7

1. 3 Victory Team - 132pts

2. 5 Team Abu Dhabi - 102pts

3. 96 Spirit of Qatar - 73pts

4. 10 Fendi Racing - 50pts

5. 95 Spirit of Qatar - 45pts

6. 91 Zabo Isiklar - 40pts

7. 7 Victory Team of Australia - 19pts

8. 23 FA.RO. Acciai - 18pts

9. 74 Spirit of Gabon - Poliform - 13pts

10. 90 Welmax - 5pts

11= 9 Welmax - 0pts

12= 8 Subseapilot - 0pts

MIDDLE EAST CHAMPIONSHIP - after race 4

1. 3 Victory Team - 67pts

2. 5 Team Abu Dhabi - 54pts

3. 96 Spirit of Qatar - 52pts

4= 7 Victory Team of Australia - 19pts

4= 10 Fendi Racing - 19pts

6. 91 Zabo Isiklar - 14pts

7. 23 FA.RO. Acciai - 11pts

8. 95 Spirit of Qatar - 9pts

9= 74 Spirit of Gabon - Poliform - 0pts

9= 90 Welmax - 0pts

9= 8 Subseapilot - 0pts

www.class-1.com

Class 1 - Dubai Grand Prix Preview

Victory Team will line-up for this week’s Emirates-Dubai Duty Free and Skydive Dubai Dubai Grands Prix looking to close out the title race on their home waters at the Dubai International Marine Sports Club as Dubai celebrates 21 years of hosting the Class 1 World Championship after staging its first two Grands Prix in 1992.
Wins in Qatar, Gabon and Italy puts the defending and four-time Champion Al Zafeen and two-time Champion Al Marri 21-points clear of their Emirati rivals, Team Abu Dhabi, at the top of the World Championship standings on 95 points as they look to win a remarkable twelfth World title for the Dubai based Victory Team 20 years after entering and winning the Championship on their debut in 1993.
To secure the title in the penultimate Grand Prix of the year before the season finale in Abu Dhabi the Dubai-duo, who completed the win-double in Dubai last year, must again win both races but need second placed Team Abu Dhabi to trip up and finish off the podium in both.
That will be a tall order; Team Abu Dhabi is on top form and enjoying theirs and the team’s best season to date and have missed out on a podium finish only once in their five starts in 2012 and will be looking to pick-up their first win together – the team’s last win coming in 2010 in Abu Dhabi when Al Tayer paired with American, John Tomlinson.
Ten boats will line up on a slightly revised course running off the Mina Seyahi and inside the Palm Jumeirah, with two new outfits on the start line and two new drivers set to make their Class 1 debuts.
New Zealander Peter ‘muddy’ McGrath, who last raced in Class 1 in 2009, makes a return to the Championship following his success in the USA in November winning the Supercat World title, and teams-up with Australian Darren Nicholson in a Victory hull running Victory V12s.
Norway’s Bjorge ‘bj’ Jacobsen will lead out a second Norwegian entry, Subseapilot Racing, alongside countryman Yngve Bratland in the Outerlimits hull owned and debuted by Fendi Racing in 2011, but opting to run Mercury V8s.
For Spirit of Qatar’s two-boat attack the world title, barring a complete technical or otherwise meltdown by the two front-runners, looks to be beyond their reach. But despite not contesting all rounds this season, opting not to go to Gabon, they sit in third and fourth spots, picking up two Grands Prix and an Edox Pole Position win.
Sheikh Hassan and Steve Curtis, who also enjoyed the spoils of success in the USA winning the Superboat Unlimited title, sit 42-points adrift of the leaders and 21 shy of Team Abu Dhabi in third but hold a nine-point advantage over teammates Ali Al Neama and Matteo Nicolini.
They took their first win together in Class 1 in Doha earlier in the year, adding two third placed finishes in Doha and in Italy, where they also grabbed their first pole position of the season, and are in the hunt for the Middle East title and sit joint top with arch-rivals Victory.
Al Neama and Nicolini have proved to be a strong partnership since finishing on the podium in their debut outing together in Abu Dhabi in 2010, winning twice and taking five podiums and a win in qualifying from their 11 starts. They produced one of their best performances last time out to upstage their teammates with a brilliant flag-to-finish win in race 2 in Italy - their second in Cernobbio - and will be looking for more of the same this weekend.
Team LFFendi10 completes the top half of the points table and has been a different outfit since running out for the first time in their ex Championship winning Victory hull and switching to SCAM engines in Libreville, Gabon in July.
Luca Formilli Fendi and Giovanni Carpitella have shown that they can run at the front and are genuine podium challengers after finishing second in Gabon. They then went on to qualify in fourth in Italy and looked to be on track for a second podium finish before incurring a penalty lap for missing a turn-buoy, eventually finishing down in fifth place.
Norwegian outfit Zabo Racing will be desperate to turn their fortunes around and will be targeting a repeat of the podium success they enjoyed in Dubai last year.
The team is well overdue a strong run out, as well as some luck, and with three races under their belts and the much needed time out on the water with their latest specification Mercury engine package, Ugur Isik and Christian Zaborowski may well find form and deliver strong performances in the UAE.
Another team looking to put it all together over a race weekend is DAC Racing and they will be hoping to mark Giampaolo Montavoci’s 100th Grand Prix appearance with a more than possible podium finish.
Team principal and driver Guido Cappellini has reworked the former Championship winning Tencara and their performances at times have shown that the boat can be very competitive and quick. But reliability has been their ‘achilles heel’ and has cost them several podium opportunities.
If luck has deserted any team this year it is Team D’Alessio-SCAM who has suffered a catalogue of bad luck from season start and will be hoping for a trouble free run in Dubai.
A fire gutted the boat in the season-opener in Qatar, but the team managed to all but rebuild her in time to make the race start in Gabon where their new pairing of Gian Maria Gabbiani and Luca Nicolini picked up seven points in fifth place.
An all new look FA.RO ACCIAI rolled out in Italy, but last minute issues prevented the boat getting out onto the water until race 1 - albeit momentarily - with Gabbiani and Nicolini tipping it over at the first turn. Hopefully lady luck will be with them in the UAE.
First Practice takes place on Thursday from 11.30-13.00hrs (local) with official qualifying in the Edox Pole Position at 15.00hrs. A second practice session on Friday morning at 10.00hrs is followed by Race 1, the Emirates-Dubai Duty Free Dubai Grand Prix - 11 laps / 54.78Nm at 15.30hrs, with a final practice session on Saturday morning at 10.00hrs and Race 2, the Skydive Dubai Dubai Grand Prix – 14 laps / 68.37Nm at 15.30hrs.
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP - after round 3
1. 3 Victory Team - 95pts

2. 5 Team Abu Dhabi - 74pts

3. 96 Spirit of Qatar - 53pts

4. 95 Spirit of Qatar - 45pts

5. 10 LFF10 - 38pts

6. 91 Zabo-Isiklar - 22pts

7. 74 Spirit of Gabon-Poliform -9pts

8. 23 FA,RO ACCIAI - 7pts

9. 90 Welmax - 5pts
MIDDLE EAST CHAMPIONSHIP - after round 1
1= 96 Spirit of Qatar - 32pts

1= 3 Victory - 32pts

3. 5 Team Abu Dhabi - 30pts

4. 95 Spirit of Qatar - 9pts

5. 10 LFF10 - 7pts

6= 91 Zabo-Isiklar - 0pts

6= 74 Spirit of Gabon-Poliform - 0pts

6= 23 FA.RO ACCIAI - 0pts

6= Welmax - 0pts
EDOX POLE POSITION CHAMPIONSHIP - after round 3
1. 3 Victory Team - 55pts

2. 5 Team Abu Dhabi - 36pts

3. 96 Spirit of Qatar - 35pts

4. 95 Spirit of Qatar - 19pts

5. 90 Welmax - 16pts

6. 9 Welmax - 12pts

7. 10 LFF10 - 9 pts

8. 74 Spirit of Gabon-Poliform - 5pts

9. 91 Zabo-Isiklar - 4pts

10. 23 FA.RO ACCIAI - 3pts

www.class-1.com

Class 1 - Cernobbio Grand Prix

RACE 1

Victory’s Arif Al Zafeen and Mohammed Al Marri cruised to their third win of the year on an afternoon of drama during race 1 of the Italian Grand Prix.
Team Abu Dhabi’s Rashed Al Tayer and Majed Al Mansoori made it a UAE one-two finishing ahead of Ali Al Neama and Matteo Nicolini in Spirit of Qatar 95 to complete a podium lock-out for the Middle East teams.
The Championship leaders’ led from the start and were clear of pole-sitters Spirit of Qatar 96 when the red flag was shown and the race immediately stopped when FA.RO ACCIAI turned over at the first turn. Thankfully both crew members emerged unhurt through the escape hatch in the upturned hull and were taken back to the pits by the rescue team.
At the restart the Dubai pairing produced more of the same to once again steal the advantage of pole position from their rivals Sheikh Hassan and Steve Curtis in Spirit of Qatar 96 to lead at the end of lap one, with Team Abu Dhabi also stealing a march on the Qatari boat to move up into second place.
For the remainder of the shortened eight lap race Al Zafeen and Al Marri were untroubled, moving out to an eight second lead by the end of lap 3 and going on to win comfortably by 27 seconds in 20:13.36secs.

Behind the runaway leaders Team Abu Dhabi’s Rashed Al Tayer and Majed Al Mansoori further staked their claim as the main challenge to their Dubai neighbours, taking their fourth podium of the year, and were able to keep Spirit of Qatar 96 at bay for five laps who lost ground trying to make a move on the Abu Dhabi duo, eventually finishing in sixth.
Spirit of Qatar 95’s Ali Al Neama and Matteo Nicolini had trailed their teammates from the start but grabbed the opportunity to move up into third spot when they saw them trip up, going on to take their best result of the year and complete the podium.
And whilst Nicolini can claim the bragging rights as the first Italian home, the battle for ‘Italian team honours’ was being fought out over fourth and fifth place between Luca Formilli Fendi and Giovanni Carpitella in LFF10 and Guido Cappellini and Giampaolo Montavoci in Poliform, with Formilli Fendi and Carpitella holding off the challenge after passing Poliform on lap 2 to finish ahead of them by just two seconds.
Ugur Isik and Christian Zaborowski endured a rather solitary race in seventh spot in Zabo-Isiklar, but team boss Jan Zaborowski was satisfied that with the set-up available to them after losing a propeller yesterday, to get round without any technical problems was a positive outcome.
Today’s win for Al Zafeen and Al Marri, their fifth from six starts together, puts them 15 points clear of Team Abu Dhabi in the Championship table with Spirit of Qatar losing ground but still in third place.
ITALIAN GRAND PRIX, RACE 1 – Results
1. 3 Victory - A Al Zafeen (UAE) / M Al Marri (UAE) - 00.20.13,36
2. 5 Team Abu Dhabi - R Al Tayer (UAE) / M Al Mansoori (UAE) + 00.26,89
3. 95 Spirit of Qatar - A Al Neama (QAT) / M Nicolini (ITA) + 00.37,55
4. 10 Fendi Racing - L Formilli Fendi (ITA) / G Carpitella (ITA) + 00.57,49
5. 74 Poliform - G Cappellini (MON) / G Montavoci (ITA) + 00.59,88
6. 96 Spirit of Qatar - H Al Thani (QAT) / S Curtis (ENG) + 01.03,00
7. 91 Zabo Isiklar - U Isik (TUR) / C Zaborowski (NOR) + 01.41,00
8. 23 FA.RO. ACCIAI - G M Gabbiani (ITA) / L Nicolini (ITA) - dns
RACE 2
Spirit of Qatar’s Ali Al Neama and Matteo Nicolini produced a simply stunning performance in this afternoon’s thriller on Lake Como to win race 2 of the Italian Grand Prix.
Victory’s Arif Al Zafeen and Mohammed Al Marri just failed to pull off what would have been a remarkable win-double finishing second, with Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor Al-Thani and Steve Curtis making it a double podium celebration for the Qatari Team finishing third in Spirit of Qatar 96.
Al Neama and Nicolini laid the foundation for their first win of the season, in arguably their best drive since they first raced together in Class 1 in Abu Dhabi in 2011, by doing to Victory what they did to Spirit of Qatar 96 yesterday and stealing away the advantage of pole position by winning the drag race from the green flag to lead into the first turn.
LFF10’s Luca Formilli Fendi and Giovanni Carpitella also produced a blistering start to come from fourth place on the start line to follow the Qatari-Italian duo across the line at the end of the start lap ahead of pole-sitters Victory and Poliform’s Guido Cappellini and Giampaolo Montavoci.
But in spite of Poliform’s storming start, fourth spot was short lived, suddenly slowing on lap 2 and retiring from the race elevating Spirit of Qatar 96 to fourth place ahead of Team Abu Dhabi and Zabo-Isiklar.
With Al Neama and Nicolini edging out to an 11 second lead by lap 3, a titanic battle was developing behind them with just two seconds splitting LFF10 and Victory, with Spirit of Qatar 96 hanging on but a further seven seconds adrift.
Fendi and Carpitella looked to be capable of holding of the Victory attack, but their hopes of a podium evaporated on lap six when they took an imposed penalty lap for missing a buoy, dropping them to fifth place.
With six laps remaining Al Zafeen and Al Marri set about trying to haul in Al Neama and Nicolini and overturn their 15 second advantage.
By the end of lap 7 the gap was down to 10 seconds and by lap 10 the margin was just three, but Al Neama and Nicolini looked to have done enough and controlled the final two laps to run out well-deserved winners.
Today’s second place moves Al Zafeen and Al Marri 21-points clear in the Championship standings, with Al Zafeen conceding that the start cost them the race.
With Victory pushing hard to catch their teammates, Spirit of Qatar 96 were unable to match their pace but a race podium to add to their pole position win on Friday completed a good weekend for Sheikh Hassan and Steve Curtis, with Curtis satisfied that they had done all they could from where they started.
ITALIAN GRAND PRIX, RACE 2 – Results
1. 95 Spirit of Qatar - A Al Neama (QAT) / M Nicolini (ITA) 00.30.36,71
2. 3 Victory - A Al Zafeen (UAE) / M Al Marri (UAE) + 00.03,08
3. 96 Spirit of Qatar - H Al Thani (QAT) / S Curtis (ENG) + 00.18,69
4. 5 Team Abu Dhabi - R Al Tayer (UAE) / M Al Mansoori (UAE) + 00.34,85
5. 10 Fendi Racing - L Formilli Fendi (ITA) / G Carpitella (ITA) + 00.50,49
6. 91 Zabo Isiklar - U Isik (TUR) / C Zaborowski (NOR) + 01.05,00
7. 74 Poliform - G Cappellini (MON) / G Montavoci (ITA) - dnf
8. 23 FA.RO. ACCIAI - G M Gabbiani (ITA) / L Nicolini (ITA) - dns
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP - after round 3
1. 3 Victory Team - 89pts

2. 5 Team Abu Dhabi - 68pts

3. 96 Spirit of Qatar - 49pts

4. 95 Spirit of Qatar - 41pts

5. 10 Fendi Racing - 38pts

6. 91 Zabo Isiklar - 18pts

7= 23 FA.RO ACCIAI - 7pts

7= 74 Spirit of Gabon - Poliform - 7pts

9. 90 Welmax - 5pts

10. 9 Welmax - 0pts

www.class-1.com

Class 1 - Cernobbio Grand Prix Preview

A trio of Italian teams will line up on Lake Como, Cernobbio for the Italian Grand Prix, the 159th Class 1 Grand Prix to be run since the multi-event format was re-introduced in 1992, and the 19th to be played out on Italian waters in 14 years, looking to end the run of wins in 2012 by the Middle East teams.
LFFendi10, DAC Racing and Team D’Alessio-SCAM head the list of challengers who will be looking to unseat the current Championship leaders, Victory’s Arif Al Zafeen and Mohammed Al Marri.
Eight boats will line up on the spectacular Lake Como 21-23 September, when Regione Lombardia and the City of Cernobbio host round 3 of the 2012 UIM Class 1 World Powerboat Championship.
Class 1 first raced on Lake Como in October 1987 in a showpiece event organised by the late Bruno Abbate, which was won by former Italian tennis champion Adriano Panatta, and returned there last year for the first time in over two decades as an official round of the World Championship.
Luca Formilli Fendi and Giovanni Carpitella look well placed to give the tens-of-thousands of spectators who are expected to turn out the home win they crave, after finishing second in race 1 of the Gabon Grand Prix in July and currently sit as the top placed Italian outfit lying in fourth spot in the Championship standings.
Formilli Fendi and Carpitella look a resurgent force in the Championship since switching into a Victory hull SCAM engine package last time out and both are confident that they can challenge for further podium honours in Italy as they go in search of their first win together since teaming-up in 2010.
Cappellini’s Mercury V8-powered Poliform clearly has great pace but the 10-time F1H2O World Champion, who switched to Class 1 in 2010, has struggled to find reliability this season. In Gabon, he and Montavoci,  race 2 winner’s in Cernobbio in 2011 were hampered in both qualifying and in the race by recurring technical issues that ended their podium prospects and both will be eager to post their first race points this season.
Team D’Alessio-SCAM field the same line-up that paired in Gabon and finished in fifth place, with the experienced Luca Nicolini, who finished fourth in both races in Cernobbio in 2011 on the team’s Championship debut, alongside rookie Gian Maria Gabbiani, making his Cernobbio debut and only his third start in Class 1.
Looking to upstage his countrymen is Matteo Nicolini who lines up in Spirit of Qatar 95 alongside Qatari, Ali Al Neama.
Nicolini - who lifted the European title in 2005 and the Edox Pole Position Championship last year - will be looking to add to his haul of four race wins, five pole positions and 27 podium finishes of those taking one win, one pole position and four podiums with Al Neama since they paired for the first time in 2011.
Dubai’s Victory Team will arrive in Lake Como looking to put their name back on the winner’s roster and eradicate the bitter memory of last year’s two race-win and pole position disqualifications.
Defending and four-time World Champion Arif Al Zafeen and double World Champion Mohammed Al Marri top the overall standings on 54 points after finishing third and winning in Qatar, winning again in Gabon and lead their UAE rivals, Team Abu Dhabi’s Rashed Al Tayer and Majed Al Mansoori, by 10 points.
Since teaming-up for the season finale in Dubai in 2011, Al Zafeen and Al Marri have proved to be an intimidating partnership, winning four out of five races and going quickest in qualifying in three-out-of-three Edox Pole Position outings.
Equally as impressive is the team’s record in Italy following their first win in Ischia in 1993 in their rookie season, winning 14 times from 20 races at 17 Grands Prix over 13 years, whereas Italian success post 1992 has been somewhat stifled, with all-Italian pairings winning four times on home waters; Antonio Gioffredi and Carlo Bonomi in Pescara in 1992, Luca Ferrari and Vincenzo Polli in 1995, Eduardo Polli and Lamberto Leoni in 1997 and Guido Cappellini and Giampaolo Montavoci in 2011 - as did Matteo Nicolini with Qatari Ali Al Neama both courtesy of last year’s Victory disqualifications. Britons, Norwegians and an American claimed the other three GPs during the same period.
After opting to sit out the Gabon Grand Prix, Spirit of Qatar’s two-boat line up return to competitive duties and will be looking to claw back lost points and reignite their title challenge.
A first win together in Class 1 for Sheikh Hassan and throttleman Steve Curtis, the defending European Champions, in the season-opener in Doha, Qatar in March put them joint top of the points table with Victory’s Al Zafeen and Al Marri. But the Dubai duo’s win in Gabon now gives them a 22 point advantage over their arch-rivals, with Team Abu Dhabi up into second place after Rashed Al Tayer and Majed Al Mansoori picked up their third podium of the year last time out.
Teammates Ali Al Neama and Matteo Nicolini, the defending Edox Pole Position Champions and race 1 winners in Cernobbio last season, find themselves relegated to fifth with Zabo-Isiklar’s Turkish-Norwegian duo, Ugur Isik and Christian Zaborowski, who produced their best result of the year in Gabon, finishing in fourth place, and who will hope to benefit with more time on the water running their upgraded Mercury V8 engine package.
Teams will face a revised course this year after officials responded to the call by some to modify the race circuit, extending the north end of the course in an effort to take the ‘sting’ out of the turn in front of Villa D’Este that saw both LFFendi10 and Spirit of Qatar 95 come to grief in 2011. LFFendi10 flipping over and Qatar spinning out but recovering to go on and finish on the podium.
Official qualifying in the Edox Pole Position takes place on Friday 21 September at 15.00hrs, with race 1 of the Italian Grand Prix on Saturday at 14.30hrs and race 2 on Sunday at 14.30hrs.
UIM CLASS 1 WORLD POWERBOAT CHAMPIONSHIP - after round 2
1. 3 Victory - 54pts

2. 5 Team Abu Dhabi - 44pts

3. 96 Spirit of Qatar - 32pts

4. 10 LFF10 - 22pts

5= 95 Spirit of Qatar - 9pts

5= 91 Zabo-Isiklar - 9pts

7. 23 FA.RO. ACCIAI - 7pts

8. 90 Welmax - 5pts

9. 74 Poliform - 0pts
EDOX POLE POSITION CHAMPIONSHIP - after round 2
1. 3 Victory Team - 40pts

2. 5 Team Abu Dhabi - 21pts

3= 10 LFF10 - 15pts

3= 96 Spirit of Qatar - 15pts

5. 90 Welmax - 14pts

6. 95 Spirit of Qatar - 12pts

7. 9 Welmax - 9pts

8. 74 Poliform - 5pts

9. 91 Zabo-Isiklar - 4pts

10. 23 FA.RO. ACCIAI - 3pts

www.class-1.com 

Class 1 - Tragedy in Gabon Grand Prix

Officials of the UIM are deeply shocked and saddened to announce the tragic news of the death of pilot William Nocker from England following a racing accident during race one of the Gabon Grand Prix, round 2 of the Class 1 World Powerboat Championship.

Co-pilot Kurt Olsen from Norway remains in a critical condition in intensive care.

The pilots of boat number 9, Welmax, representing the Welmax Offshore Racing Team, were involved in a high-speed crash on lap four of the race taking place in Libreville on the estuary of the Gabon River.

The race was red flagged as safety personnel immediately attended to both pilots at the scene.

They were subsequently transferred by ambulance to Omar Bongo Ondimba Military Hospital, where all efforts to resuscitate William Nocker were in vain.

The Welmax Offshore Racing Team and officials of the UIM and H2O Racing pass on their deepest condolences to the family of William Nocker.

As a mark of respect to the pilots and families, the event organisers have cancelled tomorrow’s race and all event activities.

The UIM has launched an immediate investigation into the accident.

www.class-1.com

Class 1 - Gabon Grand Prix Preview

Championship leader’s Arif Al Zafeen and Mohammed Al Marri will be looking to continue their winning ways as the UIM Class 1 World Powerboat Championship opens a new and exciting chapter in its 49-year history when the fleet lines up in Libreville 12-14 July for the first Grand Prix to be held in the Republic of Gabon, which will be attended by the country’s President, Ali Bongo Ondimba.

Victory’s multi World Championship winning pairing will also be aiming to capitalise on the absence of arch-rivals Spirit of Qatar, but know they will face a fierce onslaught from a handful of outfits as the focus of attention switches onto Team Abu Dhabi to see if they can step up to topple them, or indeed if any of the V8 runners, Spirit of Gabon [Poliform], Fendi Racing, Zabo Racing or either of the Welmax boats can challenge to try to break the V12 dominance.

Victory and Spirit of Qatar 96 shared the spoils in the season-opener in Doha, Qatar, taking a win a piece and share top spot in the title race on 32 points, but the Victory duo edged the trophy haul, courtesy of their win in official qualifying in the Edox Pole Position.

Al Zafeen, the four-time and defending Champion, is enjoying his enforced pairing with two-time Champion Al Marri and proving to be a formidable partnership, taking three race wins from four starts and qualifying twice in top spot in two outings. And had it not been for a bizarre number of penalty laps incurred whilst taking the ‘penalty lap’ in race 1 in Doha – dropping them to third – the Dubai duo would hold a perfect record together.

But now all eyes will now be on Team Abu Dhabi’s exciting pairing of Rashed Al Tayer and Majed Al Mansoori who may well be the duo to unsettle their UAE cousins, and who sit just two points behind them in third place in the title race.

The Dubai and Abu Dhabi residents started their 2012 campaign strongly and ran both Victory and Qatar 96 close in Doha finishing second in both races. They have now finished on the podium three times from six starts since joining forces in Norway in 2011 and a repeat showing in Libreville will leapfrog them above their Middle East rivals in the overall Championship standings.

With V12 power-plants locking out the top four places, Fendi Racing fly the flag as the highest placed V8 runner after picking up seven points in race 2, despite an excursion into a sandbank in practice which excluded them from race 1, albeit in Qatar it was their Italian rivals Poliform who looked,  momentarily, the most likely to achieve race success.

Fendi Racing’s challenge for honours has taken another twist this year, with the team lining-up in Libreville in a new boat - the multi-championship winning hull, Fazza 3, bought from Dubai’s Victory Team.

The move into the Michael Peters-designed, Victory-built hull, is a third change in direction by the Italian outfit; team owner-driver Luca Formilli Fendi and throttleman Giovanni Carpitella starting their campaign in 2011 in a leased Victory hull, finishing third in race 1 in Abu Dhabi, then opting to run an Outerlimits hull-engine package in Norway, but immediately switching to SCAM power-plants for the remainder of the year.

In Doha this year they dropped in Sterling V8s and have confirmed an upgraded set will now power their new purchase. For Fendi Racing’s crew chief and team manager, Marco Bonomo, it is an emotional reunion with a boat he says he knows every single scratch, screw and bubble of and who rigged the team’s new acquisition from scratch when she left the mould in the winter of 2006.

DAC Racing’s Guido Cappellini will resume his partnership with the experienced Giampaolo Montavoci who will mark his return to racing after sitting out the 2012-opener with a 98th Grand Prix start in Libreville in the V8 Mercury-powered Spirit of Gabon.

Cappellini and Montavoci have lined up 13 times together since teaming-up in Class 1 for the first time in 2010, taking their first podium in their debut Grand Prix, finishing third in race 2 in Brazil and repeating the feat at the end of the year in Dubai.  In 2011 they grabbed their first win on Cappellini’s home waters in the Italian Grand Prix in Cernobbio on Lake Como.

In Qatar, Cappellini, racing alongside the rookie Gabbiani, was impressive and gave the now joint title leaders much to ponder, winning the drag race to the first turn with an impressive turn of pace and led race 2 for four laps before a technical problem ended his charge and race challenge.

The team has since carried out further modifications to the boat, including extending the length by several centimetres, and before leaving for Gabon tested off the coast of Monte Carlo in conditions similar to those they hope for in Libreville.

Zabo Racing is another outfit hoping for a less torrid time in round two, as the Turkish-Norwegian duo of Ugur Isik and Christian Zaborowski look to realise the potential of their Victory-hull, Mercury V8 package.

A catalogue of technical problems in Qatar – torque sensor related and seemingly beyond their control – frustrated the team and prevented them from posting points.

After Qatar they shipped the hull to Turkey for an overhaul, a re-spray and to drop in the latest specification Mercury engines. Team boss Jan Zaborowski is optimistic that the considerable weight saving that they gain from the new engine package will convert to an overall improvement in pace and performance.

The second of the Norwegian outfits, Welmax Offshore Racing, is also looking to kick-start their season and will be looking to avoid a repeat of their self-inflicted zero points tally in Doha, after Paul Gaiser and Bjorge Jacobsen tipped over the Maritimo hull in practice, ruling them out for all but a short cameo role in race 2.

The team will run a second boat in Gabon with team principal and throttleman Jorn Tandberg returning to racing and teaming-up with Class 1 debutant William Nocker in the European and Edox Pole Position Championship winning MTI hull.

D’Alessio Racing has confirmed an all-Italian line up with Luca Nicolini pairing with Class 1 rookie Gian Maria Gabbiani.

Nicolini is now fully recovered from a knee injury he suffered in a motorbike trials accident that forced him to sit out the season-opener in Qatar and will take the throttles of the Victory built, SCAM V12 powered FA.RO ACCIAI to make his 17th career Grand Prix start – his third for Team D’Alessio Racing.

Gian Maria Gabbiani takes the wheel for just his second Grand Prix outing, following an impressive first start in Qatar alongside Guido Cappellini in March.

The Team entered the Championship last year at the Italian Grand Prix in Cernobbio, with Nicolini grabbing an impressive set of fourth place finishes - their best results in their six starts - and will be hoping for a less eventful time in Gabon than they endured in Qatar when FA.RO ACCIAI was engulfed in flames during practice.

Teams can expect rough conditions in Gabon with the 5.07Nm circuit, which runs in front of the Presidential Palace, set out in an open bay and subject to variable and unpredictable weather conditions.

First Practice takes place on Thursday, 12 July from 11.30-13.00hrs (local) and is followed by official qualifying in the Edox Pole Position at 14.30hrs with Race 1 of the Gabon Grand Prix at 15.30hrs on Friday and Race 2 at 15.30hrs on Saturday.

UIM CLASS 1 WORLD POWERBOAT CHAMPIONSHIP - after round 1

1= 3 Victory - 32pts

1= 96 Spirit of Qatar - 32pts

3. 5 Team Abu Dhabi - 30pts

4. 95 Spirit of Qatar - 9pts

5. 10 Fendi Racing - 7pts

6= 91 Relekta - 0pts

6= 74 Poliform - 0pts

6= 23 FA.RO. ACCIAI - 0pts

6= Welmax - 0pts

EDOX POLE POSITION CHAMPIONSHIP - after round 1

1. 3 Victory - 20pts

2. 96 Spirit of Qatar - 15pts

3. 95 Spirit of Qatar - 12pts

4. 5 Team Abu Dhabi - 9pts

5. 90 Welmax - 7pts

6. 74 Poliform - 5pts

7. 91 Relekta - 4pts

8. 23 FA.RO. ACCIAI - 3pts

9. 10 Fendi Racing - 0pts

www.class-1.com

Class 1 - Qatar Grand Prix

RACE 1

Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor Al-Thani and Steve Curtis led home a Spirit of Qatar one-three in race 1 of the Pearl Qatar Grand Prix, ending a nine-year wait for Sheikh Hassan to break his jinx of not winning on home waters since taking his first podium in Doha back in 2004.

Teammates Ali Al Neama and Matteo Nicolini made it a double podium celebration for the Doha based team, coming home in third place behind Team Abu Dhabi’s Rashed Al Tayer and Majed Al Mansoori.

It was a day of high drama inside the Pearl Qatar that started in the morning’s interrupted practice session, with Welmax crashing out and FA.RO ACIAI bursting into flames, side-lining both outfits for today’s race.

The drama carried over into the race with Victory’s Arif Al Zafeen and Mohammed Al Marri penalised a total of four penalty laps.

The parade lap saw Poliform immediately in trouble and limping back to the pits on one engine as the six remaining boats headed out for the start to run a revised circuit after race organisers reduced the lap distance to 6.63Nm.

The Spirit of Qatar 96 duo found themselves trailing in second place after the start as Victory’s Al Zafeen and Al Marri edged ahead on the run to the first turn mark to lead at the end of lap one. Spirit of Qatar 95 came through in third ahead of Team Abu Dhabi, Fendi Racing and Relekta, both Fendi Racing and Relekta’s race ending on lap 2.

By lap 3 Victory had opened up a 12 second lead but were adjudged by race officials to have moved across on Spirit of Qatar 96 on the run to the first turn and handed a penalty lap. Team Abu Dhabi passed Spirit of Qatar 95 and up into third place.

Victory’s penalty lap proved costly dropping them to fourth and last place, with Sheikh Hassan and Steve Curtis taking full advantage and surging into the lead.

For defending World Champion Al Zafeen the day deteriorated into farce, missing a buoy on the penalty lap, only to be handed another and then missing the same buoy, ultimately collecting four penalty lap infringements and running out the race in fourth spot.

Sheikh Hassan and  Steve Curtis were able to maintain their pace out front and from lap four were never troubled, going on to complete the nine lap, 56.26Nm race in 31.53,37secs at an average speed of 198.40km/h.

Team Abu Dhabi’s Rashed Al Tayer and Majed Al Mansoori continued the impressive form they have shown throughout the weekend and once they had passed Al Neama and Nicolini were able to take their second podium together since teaming-up in Class 1 in Norway last year.

Despite a recurring electronic problem that kept cutting power to one engine, the Spirit of Qatar 95 duo were able to hang on to third spot for what Nicolini described as an ‘unexpected podium’.

Race 2 of the Pearl Qatar Grand Prix takes place on Saturday, 17 March with Sheikh Hassan looking to make it an historic win-double.

PEARL QATAR GRAND PRIX, RACE 1 - results

1. 96 Spirit of Qatar - H Al Thani (QAT) / S Curtis (ENG) 00.31.53,37

2. 5 Team Abu Dhabi - R Al Tayer (UAE) / M Al Mansoori (UAE) + 00.13,77

3. 95 Spirit of Qatar - A Al Neama (QAT) / M Nicolini (ITA) + 00.39,25

4. 3 Victory - A Al Zafeen (UAE) / M Al Marri (UAE) + 01.48,95

5. 10 Fendi Racing - L Formilli Fendi (ITA) / G Carpitella (ITA) DNF

6. 91 Relekta - U Isik (TUR) / C Zaborowski (NOR) DNF

7. 74 Poliform - G Cappellini (MON) / G M Gabbiani (ITA) DNF

8. 23 FA.RO. ACCIAI - M Roggiero (ITA) / P V Nilsen (NOR) DNS

9. 90 Welmax - P Gaiser (BRA) / B Jacobsen (NOR) DNF

RACE 2

Victory’s Arif Al Zafeen and Mohammed Al Marri came from behind to win race 2 of the Pearl Qatar Grand Prix, taking their third win together from four starts since teaming-up in Dubai at the end of last season.

Team Abu Dhabi’s Rashed Al Tayer and Majed Al Mansoori made it a one-two celebration for the United Arab Emirates taking their second podium of the Grand Prix weekend, with Thursday’s race winner’s Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor Al Thani and Steve Curtis completing the podium in Spirit of Qatar 96.

Today’s result puts Victory and Spirit of Qatar 96 joint top of the Championship standings on 32 points, with Team Abu Dhabi two points adrift in third.

But the Dubai duo did not have it all their own way and had to overturn a strong challenge after a breathtaking start to the race by Italian outfit Poliform.

The drag race from the green flag saw pole-sitters Spirit of Qatar 96, Team Abu Dhabi and Victory 3, line a breast and just feet apart as they hurtled into the first turn. But it was Guido Cappellini and Class 1 debutant Gian Maria Gabbiani in Poliform, starting on the outside of the line of eight, who showed a blistering turn of speed to get out front and come across to lead at the end of lap 1.

Cappellini and Gabbiani, who failed to make the start of race 1 and forced to sit out the next two practice sessions with a recurring engine problem, held off the challenge of Al Zafeen and Al Marri, edging out to a four second lead before a technical problem forced them to slow, conceding the lead and retiring from the race on lap 6.

With Poliform out, Al Zafeen and Al Marri were able to control the race and extended their lead, going on to complete the 11 lap, 66.54Nm race in 39mins 13.68s to win by over 15 seconds.

Behind the race leader’s, Team Abu Dhabi and the Spirit of Qatar boats raced line astern, neither making any inroads to the other, with Al Tayer and Al Mansoori able to maintain a comfortable 11 second gap over Spirit of Qatar 96.

For Sheikh Hassan and Steve Curtis any hopes of completing the Doha double evaporated at the first turn, losing the advantage of being in pole position and dropping to fourth at the end of the first lap. Following their disqualification from race 1, teammates Ali Al Neama and Matteo Nicolini faced an uphill task, starting from seventh place on the start line, and were unable to make any inroads completing a frustrating weekend finishing in fourth.

Fendi Racing’s team manager, Marco Bonomo, had said before the race that after all the hard work that the team had put in to repair the boat after Luca Fendi and Giovanni Carpitella’s brush with a sandbank earlier in the week, if they finished it would be like winning, the Italian duo coming home in fifth place to pick up seven valuable points.

There was more frustration for Norwegian outfit Relekta who ended a disappointing start to their year with a second retirement for Ugur Isik and Christian Zaborowski – stopping on lap 4.

Welmax duo of Paul Gaiser and Bjorge Jacobsen paid back their team’s efforts for repairing the boat after they crashed out in second practice by putting in a cameo role, taking to the water to complete a handful of laps.

PEARL QATAR GRAND PRIX, RACE 2 - results

1. 3 Victory - A Al Zafeen (UAE) / M Al Marri (UAE) 00.39.13,68

2. 5 Team Abu Dhabi - R Al Tayer (UAE) / M Al Mansoori (UAE) + 00.15,72

3. 96 Spirit of Qatar - H Al Thani (QAT) / S Curtis (ENG) + 00.28,53

4. 95 Spirit of Qatar - A Al Neama (QAT) / M Nicolini (ITA) + 00.49,53

5. 10 Fendi Racing - L Formilli Fendi (ITA) / G Carpitella (ITA) + 1 LAP

6. 74 Poliform - G Cappellini (MON) / G M Gabbiani (ITA) DNF

7. 91 Relekta - U Isik (TUR) / C Zaborowski (NOR) DNF

8. 90 Welmax - P Gaiser (BRA) / B Jacobsen (NOR) DNF

9. 23 FA.RO. ACCIAI - M Roggiero (ITA) / P V Nilsen (NOR) DNS

UIM CLASS 1 WORLD POWERBOAT CHAMPIONSHIP - after race 2

1= 96 Spirit of Qatar - 32pts

1= 3 Victory - 32pts

3. 5 Team Abu Dhabi - 30pts

4. 95 Spirit of Qatar - 9pts

5. 10 Fendi Racing - 7pts

6= 91 Relekta - 0pts

6= 74 Poliform - 0pts

6= 23 FA.RO. ACCIAI - 0pts

6= Welmax - 0pts

MIDDLE EAST CHAMPIONSHIP - after race 2

1= 96 Spirit of Qatar - 32pts

1= 3 Victory - 32pts

3. 5 Team Abu Dhabi - 30pts

4. 95 Spirit of Qatar - 9pts

5. 10 Fendi Racing - 7pts

6= 91 Relekta - 0pts

6= 74 Poliform - 0pts

6= 23 FA.RO. ACCIAI - 0pts

6= Welmax - 0pts

www.class-1.com

Class 1 - 2012 Season Preview

Nine boats will line up in Doha for the Pearl Qatar Grand Prix, 14-17 March, the opening round of the 2012 UIM Class 1 World Powerboat Championship, marking the sport’s return to Doha for the first time since 2009 with the Qatar Marine Sports Federation (QMSF), the event organiser, moving the location from the relative shelter of Doha Bay to the more open water and hoped-for rougher conditions to be found off the Pearl of Qatar.

2012 sees the Championship start its 49th season since being recognised and sanctioned by the Union Internationale Motonautique (UIM), the world governing body for powerboating, and marks the 21st anniversary of the ‘modern era’ that saw the sport return to a multiple-venue World Championship in 1992.

It is hard to predict who will win in Qatar, or titles in 2012, but based on the fact that Dubai’s Victory Team’s run of consecutive world crowns is running at five, and the impressive performances by Arif Al Zafeen and Mohammed Al Marri in the final two races of 2011 in Dubai to clinch the team’s eleventh World title, it will take a herculean effort by their challengers to break their vice-like grip on the Sam Griffith Trophy.

With four-time World Champion, Nadir Bin Hendi ‘provisionally suspended’ by the UIM, Arif Al Zafeen will again partner Mohammed Al Marri – the duo boasting six World titles between them – and will start as favourites and the team to beat as Al Zafeen goes for his third straight win in Doha.

If how to beat Victory is at the top of the teams’ ‘most wanted’ list, the on-going situation facing officials is the cry by some teams for greater parity between the screeching V12s and the thunderous V8s.

In 2011 the mighty V12 was all-conquering, a quartet of outfits running V12s leading home a trio of those opting for the V8s in the title race, with the V8 runners managing just three podium appearances – one of those upgraded to a win courtesy of a Victory DQ.

To ease the situation, officials have upped the rpm for the Mercury 850Sci V8 supercharged engines to 6350rpm from 6100rpm with modifications to the torque/power curve.

Of the eight challengers who will line up against Victory, the most fancied challengers could be the two-boat assault of the silver-and-crimson-clad Spirit of Qatar Team.

Their much-anticipated return to racing last year was a success, with Sheikh Hassan and Steve Curtis winning their first race together in Class 1 since teaming up in 2008 and taking the European title, whilst teammates Ali Al Neama and Matteo Nicolini took a win in Italy and the Edox Pole Position Championship – the team finishing second and third overall in the title race.

The team and its current line-up has had mixed success in Doha since Qatar hosted its first Class 1 Grand Prix in 2002; Sheikh Hassan and Nicolini have enjoyed multiple podium finishes but a win has eluded both - the team’s only win on home waters was in 2006 courtesy of Abdullah Al Sulaiti and Lino di Biase - whilst Curtis, as a rival with Spirit of Norway, has won five times in Qatar.

DAC Racing field a new line up in the V8 Mercury-powered Poliform with Guido Cappellini – now recovered from a broken ankle sustained in a road accident in Italy last month – joined by Class 1 debutant, Italian Gian Maria Gabbiani, moving over from four-wheel competition and up from endurance racing in the Italian powerboat championship.

Cappellini’s credentials as a powerboat racer speak for themselves; he has won the F1H2O World title ten times, and since switching into Class 1 in 2010 has made the podium several times, and on his home waters of Lake Como at the Italian Grand Prix last year he grabbed his first win.

Norway rolls out two teams; a last gasp reshuffle at Welmax Offshore Racing has reversed plans laid out in 2011 to run a two-boat line-up, which would have seen newcomer William Nocker teaming-up with 2008 European Champion Jorn Tandberg. Instead, the team has announced they will run one outfit in Qatar with Norwegian throttleman Bjorge Jackobsen joined in the cockpit of the Mercury V8-powered Maritimo-designed Welmax, by Brazilian Paul Gaiser – the duo mustering 23 starts collectively, with Gaiser taking his only podium in Abu Dhabi in 2010.

Fellow Norwegian outfit, Zabo Racing, will be hoping to start their season where they left off in 2011, with Ugur Isik and race and pole position winner Christian Zaborowski producing a strong showing to put Relekta on the podium in Dubai.

Fendi Racing will be looking to put behind them a frustrating 2011; a promising start with a podium was soon forgotten as their new Outerlimits hull-V8 engine package failed to deliver and they fared little better with the switch to SCAM V12s, and have confirmed a third switch of engines, opting to run Sterling V8s in 2012.

Team owner-driver Luca Formilli Fendi will again partner the experienced stick-man Giovanni Carpitella, the pair grabbing two podiums from their ten starts together since forming up in 2010 - Carpitella taking his two Grand Prix wins in Uddevalla, Sweden.

Team Abu Dhabi has confirmed driver Rashed Al Tayer and throttleman Majed Al Mansoori; the Emirati duo paired twice last year, teaming-up for the first time in the BMW Norwegian Grand Prix in Arendal and again at the end of the year in Dubai, grabbing their first podium together in race 2, with Team Abu Dhabi finishing fourth overall in the title race.

Italian outfit Team D’Alessio-SCAM will be starting their first full season in Class 1 after joining the Championship midway through last year at the Italian Grand Prix. But with throttleman Luca Nicolini side-lined through injury, there is an eleventh hour call up for Norway’s Pal Virik Nilsen, with former F1H2O star Massimo Roggiero taking the wheel to make his Class 1 debut.

Teams take to the water for the first of three official practice sessions on Wednesday, 14 March followed by official qualifying in the Edox Pole Position at 14:30hrs.

Race 1 of the Pearl Qatar Grand Prix starts at 15:00hrs on Thursday with race 2 at 15:00hrs on Saturday, 17 March.
www.class-1.com

Class 1 - Dubai U.A.E. Grand Prix 2011

RACE 1

Arif Al Zafeen and Mohammed Al Marri produced a command performance to win race 1 of the Skydive Dubai and Dubai Duty Free Grand Prix and clinch the UIM Class 1 Middle East Championship.

The Victory 3 crew were simply in a class of their own and led the 12 lap, 56.20Nm race from start-to-finish to win by over a minute and put themselves right back into contention in the fight for the World title having wrapped up the Middle East title.

Ali Al Neama and Matteo Nicolini, who earlier in the day lifted the Edox Pole Position Championship, simply had no answer to the pace and performance of Victory 3 and could only watch as they disappeared into the distance, but today’s second place their fifth podium of the year has moved them into the lead in the overall standings.
Giorgio Manuzzi and Pal Virik Nilsen produced one of the best outings of the afternoon to finish on the podium in Victory 7, a boat they are competing in for the first time, and after qualifying in fifth place.

There was bitter disappointment and frustration for Sheikh Hassan and Steve Curtis who started the penultimate race of the year leading the World Championship by 12 points from their teammates, but an electrical problem on lap 7 ended their hopes of a podium finish, dropping them from third place with the Spirit of Qatar 96 pairing eventually limping across the finish line in tenth place to pick up a solitary point.

Team Abu Dhabi’s Rashed Al Tayer and Majed Al Mansoori marked their return to racing together with a solid fourth place to finish ahead of Guido Cappellini and Giampaolo Montavoci in Poliform, who were unable to match their impressive fourth place in qualifying due to an electrical problem that temporarily shut down one engine.

An electrical problem also blighted Relekta’s race dropping Ugur Isik and Christian Zaborowski from fifth place to finish in eighth behind Welmax and Fendi Racing, with FA.RO ACCIAI finishing ninth.

Today’s result sets up a tantalising final race of the season for the coveted World title with just seven points separating the top three.

SKYDIVE DUBAI and DUBAI DUTY FREE GRAND PRIX, RACE 1 - results

1. 3 Victory - A Al Zafeen (UAE) / M Al Marri (UAE) 00.35.06,43

2. 95 Spirit of Qatar - A Al Neama (QAT) / M Nicolini (ITA) + 01.27,78

3. 7 Victory - G Manuzzi (SMR) / P V Nilsen (NOR) + 01.56,77

4. 5 Team Abu Dhabi - R Al Tayer (UAE) / M Al Mansoori (UAE) + 02.00,97

5. 74 Poliform - G Cappellini (MON) / G Montavoci (ITA) + 02.37,78

6. 90 Welmax (B) - B Jacobsen (NOR) / K Olsen (NOR) + 1 LAP

7. 10 Fendi Racing - L Formilli Fendi (ITA) / G Carpitella (ITA) + 1 LAP

8. 91 Relekta - U Isik (TUR) / C Zaborowski (NOR) + 3 LAPS

9. 23 FA.RO. ACCIAI - T Polli (ITA) / L Nicolini (ITA) + 3 LAPS

10. 96 Spirit of Qatar - H Al Thani (QAT) / S Curtis (ENG) + 3 LAPS

RACE 2
Arif Al Zafeen and Mohammed Al Marri produced another faultless display to win race 2 of the Skydive Dubai and Dubai Duty Free Grand Prix and clinch the 2011 UIM Class 1 World Powerboat Championship.
In what has been a difficult week for the Dubai team the scratch pairing of Al Zafeen and Al Marri, racing together for the first time, responded in the best way possible to complete a hat-trick of wins in their home Grand Prix, their double race win clinching an eleventh World title for Victory Team.
Today’s result also gave Al Zafeen the clean sweep in the Middle East Championship taking maximum points, winning twice in Abu Dhabi with the now suspended Nadir Bin Hendi, and twice with Al Marri.
The turn of events of the last two days had thrown up an unexpected winner-takes-all title showdown between Victory and the twin attack of Spirit of Qatar, but the hoped for fight on the water for the title never happened.
An engine problem for Spirit of Qatar 95 as they left the wet pits before the race, ended Ali Al Neama and Matteo Nicolini’s title hopes, joining the race three laps down and coming home in eighth place. A recurrence of yesterday’s steering problem hampered Spirit of Qatar 96’s drive up from tenth to third, eventually finishing in fourth, to cap a disappointing and frustrating day for the Qatar Team.
In what was almost a repeat of yesterday’s extraordinary drive, the Victory 3 duo again made their intentions clear at the start and led from the flag, extending their lead lap-by-lap and going on to complete the 16-lap, 75.40Nm in 45m 31.71s and win by over 55 seconds.
Team Abu Dhabi’s Rashed Al Tayer and Majed Al Mansoori produced their best performance since teaming-up in Norway in July, and celebrated the return to racing of Al Tayer, after breaking his ankle in a Jet Ski competition, with an untroubled second place to give them the runners-up slot in the Middle East Championship and complete a very good day for the United Arab Emirates.
There were also celebrations in the Norwegian-Turkish camp with Ugur Isik and Christian Zaborowski producing an outstanding drive to take their first podium together.
Starting from the outside of the start line down in eighth place the Relketa crew adopted a smart long lap strategy and by lap seven were up to fifth place. They passed the ailing Spirit of Qatar 96 and yesterday’s podium finishers, Giorgio Manuzzi and Pal Virik Nilsen, in Victory 7 on lap 13 and held on to take a well-deserved third place, Zabo Racing’s first podium appearance since Abu Dhabi 2010.
Bjorge Jackobsen and Kurt Olsen gave another steady performance in Welmax, moving up from tenth place at the end of lap one to take their second top six finish of the weekend and finish ahead of Fendi Racing, in what has been a rather disappointing weekend for Italians Luca Fendi and Giovanni Carpitella.
A dramatic moment for Guido Cappellini and Giampaolo Montavoci, spinning out and all but turning over Poliform inside Palm Island, ended their race on lap three. FA.RO ACCIAI going out three laps later with technical problems.
SKYDIVE DUBAI and DUBAI DUTY FREE GRAND PRIX, RACE 2 - results
1. 3 Victory - A Al Zafeen (UAE) / M Al Marri (UAE) 00.45.31,71
2. 5 Team Abu Dhabi - R Al Tayer (UAE) / M Al Mansoori (UAE) + 00.56,47
3. 91 Relekta - U Isik (TUR) / C Zaborowski (NOR) + 02.29,21
4. 96 Spirit of Qatar - H Al Thani (QAT) / S Curtis (ENG) + 02.35,69
5. 7 Victory - G Manuzzi (SMR) / P V Nilsen (NOR) + 1 LAP
6. 90 Welmax (B) - B Jacobsen (NOR) / K Olsen (NOR) + 1 LAP
7. 10 Fendi Racing - L Formilli Fendi (ITA) / G Carpitella (ITA) + 1 LAP
8. 95 Spirit of Qatar - A Al Neama (QAT) / M Nicolini (ITA) + 3 LAPS
9. 23 FA.RO. ACCIAI - T Polli (ITA) / L Nicolini (ITA) DNF
10. 74 Poliform - G Cappellini (MON) / G Montavoci (ITA) DNF
UIM CLASS 1 WORLD POWERBOAT CHAMPIONSHIP - after race 7
1. 3 Victory - 103pts
2. 96 Spirit of Qatar - 93pts
3. 95 Spirit of Qatar - 89pts
4. 5 Team Abu Dhabi - 67pts
5. 74 Poliform - 56pts
6. 91 Relekta - 41pts
7. 10 Fendi Racing - 27pts
8. 23 FA.RO. ACCIAI - 24pts
9. 7 Victory - 19 pts
10. Welmax (B) - 17pts
11. 90 Welmax (A) - 14pts
12. 50 Parsonage Racing - 8pts
13. 69 ferskfisken.no - 5 pts
14. 18 MITI Tech Power - 4pts
MIDDLE EAST CHAMPIONSHIP - after race 4
1. 3 Victory - 80pts
2. 5 Team Abu Dhabi - 42pts
3. 96 Spirit of Qatar - 40pts
4. 95 Spirit of Qatar - 37pts
5.10 Fendi Racing - 27pts
6. 7 Victory - 19pts
7= 74 Poliform - 17pts
7= 91 Relekta - 17pts
9. 90 Welmax (B) - 10pts
10. 50 Parsonage Racing - 8pts
11. 18 GiorgiOffshore - 4pts
12. 90 Welmax (A) - 3pts
13. 23 FA.RO. ACCIAI - 2pts
www.class-1.com

Class 1 - Dubai U.A.E. Grand Prix 2011 Preview

Defending World Champions Arif Al Zafeen and Nadir Bin Hendi will line up for the final races of the year in the Skydive Dubai and Dubai Duty Free Grand Prix, 8-10 December, bidding to become the first Victory pairing to win the grand slam of all four titles in a single season.

The feat of winning the grand slam of World, European, Middle East and (Edox) Pole Position titles has only ever been achieved by Spirit of Norway’s Bjorn Rune Gjelsten and Steve Curtis who completed the clean sweep in 2003 and again in 2006.

The Emirati-duo lifted the European title at the Italian Grand Prix in Cernobbio in October and leads the overall World Championship standings on 103 points - 26 clear of Spirit of Qatar 96. They hold a ten point advantage, again over Spirit of Qatar, in the Middle East points table and carry a 13-point cushion over Spirit of Qatar 95 going into the final round of the Edox Pole Position Championship.

Al Zafeen and Bin Hendi top the in-house standings as the most successful Victory partnership. Both have won the World title three times and have 25 race wins to their names, 21 of them together from 28 starts after first teaming-up in 2008.

Despite winning in Norway and three podiums this season a somewhat disappointing weekend in Italy has left the Spirit of Qatar 96 duo of Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor Al-Thani and Steve Curtis with a mountain to climb and nothing less than two wins in Dubai - and their rivals hitting trouble - will give them a shot at the World title. They also face a mounting challenge from teammates, Ali Al Neama and Matteo Nicolini in Spirit of Qatar 95, who are improving as a partnership race-by-race, hold the in-house bragging rights in qualifying and who outperformed them in race 1 in Italy to take their third podium of the year.

Guido Cappellini and Giampaolo Montavoci lead a distant European challenge in Poliform in fourth place and are by far the best performing of the V8 runners. Despite still getting to grips with the modified DAC 40 the Italian duo are serious podium challengers, a point they emphasised on Lake Como finishing second in race 2, their best result of the year.

Team Abu Dhabi is enjoying a whirlwind season that has seen a new throttleman, Majed Al Mansoori, step in in Norway and an enforced driver change in Italy bring in F1H2O star Ahmed Al Hameli for the injured Rashed Al Tayer. Both the Emirati partnerships have produced exciting racing performances, with the team lying fifth in the points table after two fourth places and a podium in Italy. The team has confirmed that Rashed Al Tayer will return to the wheel in Dubai.

Two outfits looking to turn things around in Dubai are Fendi Racing and Zabo Racing, lying seventh and sixth respectively in the overall standings; the transition into their new Outerlimits hull has not been the smoothest for Italian duo Luca Formilli Fendi and Giovanni Carpitella nor the switch from V8 to SCAM V12s. After failing to start race 1 and then crashing out in race 2 in Italy, the pair will now be looking to deliver a solid points performance.

The same can be said for Zabo Racing’s Ugur Isik and Christian Zaborowski who have struggled in their move into the championship winning Victory hull with their V8s, but a double-points finish in Italy proved their reliability and the team now looks to up the pace and improve overall performance in Relekta.

Team D’Alessio-SCAM made a welcome addition to the Championship fleet in Italy with Belgium’s Frank Hemelaer and Italy’s Luca Nicolini delivering two very strong fifth placed finishes in FA.RO ACCIAI, but with Hemelaer unavailable the team has drafted in Italian Tomaso Polli.

Bjorge Jackobsen and Kurt Olsen teamed-up for the first time in Italy running under Welmax Offshore Racing colours in the Maritimo designed and built Welmax (2). The rookie pairing bounced back after technical problems in race 1 to take a deserved top six finish, and look likely to resume their partnership.

Giorgio Manuzzi and Pal Virik Nilsen will return to racing for the final Grand Prix of the year running in the former Fazza 3 as the second Victory Team entry.

The Italian-Norwegian partnership has endured a frustrating 2011 aligned with UK outfit Chris Parsonage Racing and lie tenth in the overall standings and seventh in the Middle East Championship, their only points coming in round one in Abu Dhabi after all but failing to get out on the water in Norway due to technical problems and missing the Italian Grand Prix in Cernobbio.

This year’s event will be the 34th Grand Prix staged in Dubai and the 43rd to be held during 20 years of racing in the United Arab Emirates.

Teams will get their first chance of an early run out to test the waters on a revised 4.53Nm course which runs inside and parallel to Palm Island, with first practice on Thursday afternoon.

Qualifying in the Edox Pole Position takes place on Friday morning followed by race 1 (start lap - 10 race laps - 1 long lap - 55.26Nm) of the Skydive Dubai and Dubai Duty Free Grand Prix at 14.00hrs. A final practice session on Saturday morning is followed by the final race (start lap - 13 race laps - 2 long laps - 73.86Nm including two long laps) of the year at 14.00hrs.

UIM CLASS 1 WORLD POWERBOAT CHAMPIONSHIP - after round 3

1.3 Victory - A Al Zafeen (UAE) / N Bin Hendi (UAE)103 pts

2.96 Spirit of Qatar - H Al Thani (QAT) / S Curtis (ENG)77 pts

3.95 Spirit of Qatar - A Al Neama (QAT) / M Nicolini (ITA)63 pts

4.74 Poliform - G Cappellini (MON) / G Montavoci (ITA)40 pts

5.5 Abu Dhabi - R Al Tayer (UAE) / M Al Mansoori (UAE)38 pts

6.91 Relekta - U Isik (TUR) / C Zaborowski (NOR)23 pts

7.10 Fendi Racing - L Formilli Fendi (ITA) / G Carpitella (ITA)19 pts

8=23 FARO ACCIAI - F Hemelaer (BEL) / L Nicolini (ITA)14 pts

8=90 Welmax (1) - K Selmer (NOR) / J Tandberg (NOR)14 pts

10.50 Parsonage Racing - G Manuzzi (SMR) / P Virik Nilsen (NOR)8 pts

11=90 Welmax (2) - B Jackobsen (NOR) / K Olsen (NOR)5 pts

11=69 ferskfisken.no - F Sundsdal (NOR) / B Jackobsen (NOR)5 pts

13.18 GiorgOffshore - N Giorgi (ITA) / T Polli (ITA)4 pts

UIM EDOX POLE POSITION CHAMPIONSHIP - after round 3

1.3 Victory - A Al Zafeen (UAE) / N Bin Hendi (UAE)55 pts

2.95 Spirit of Qatar - A Al Neama (QAT) / M Nicolini (ITA)42 pts

3.5 Abu Dhabi - R Al Tayer (UAE) / M Al Mansoori (UAE)41 pts

4.96 Spirit of Qatar - H Al Thani (QAT) / S Curtis (ENG)23 pts

5.10 Fendi Racing - L Formilli Fendi (ITA) / G Carpitella (ITA)18 pts

6.74 Poliform - G Cappellini (MON) / G Montavoci (ITA)11 pts

7=91 Relekta - U Isik (TUR) / C Zaborowski (NOR)10 pts

7=90 Welmax (1) - K Selmer (NOR) / J Tandberg (NOR)10 pts

9=90 Welmax (2) - B Jackobsen (NOR) / K Olsen (NOR)5 pts

9=18 GiorgiOffshore - N Giorgi (ITA) / T Polli (ITA)5 pts

11.69 ferskfisken.no - F Sundsdal (NOR) / B Jackobsen (NOR)4 pts

12.23 FARO ACCIAI - F Hemelaer (BEL) / L Nicolini (ITA)2 pts

13.50 Parsonage Racing - G Manuzzi (SMR) / P Virik Nilsen (NOR)1 pts

UIM CLASS 1 MIDDLE EAST CHAMPIONSHIP - after round 1

1. 3 Victory Team - 40pts

2. 96 Spirit of Qatar - 30pts

3= 10 Fendi Racing - 19pts

3= 95 Spirit of Qatar - 19pts

5. 5 Team Abu Dhabi - 18pts

6. 74 Poliform - 10pts

7. 50 Parsonage Racing - 8pts

8. 18 GiorgiOffshore - 4pts

9. 90 Welmax (1) - 3pts

10. 91 Relekta - 2pt

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Class 1 - Italy Grand Prix 2011

RACE 1

Victory’s Arif Al Zafeen and Nadir bin Hendi took a giant step towards retaining their European title after an imperious flag-to-finish win in race 1 of the Italian Grand Prix.

Leading from the start the defending Champions backed their pole position status to take their 24th career wins and their third of the season to extend their lead in the World Championship standings to 16 points over Spirit of Qatar 96, completing the 12 lap, 52,66Nm race in 34mins 5.39secs at an average speed of 171.65km/h.

But crucially, today’s flawless drive by Al Zafeen and Bin Hendi turns a five point deficit in the European Championship into a six points advantage - again over Spirit of Qatar 96, with Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor Al-Thani and Steve Curtis finishing in a disappointing fourth place.

Ali Al Neama and Matteo Nicolini gave the Qatari Team something to celebrate, taking their third podium and best result of the season, bringing Spirit of Qatar 95 home in second place, with Team Abu Dhabi’s Ahmed Al Hameli and Majed Al Mansoori producing yet another impressive performance to finish third and complete a Middle East sweep of the podium.

Nicolini’s second place was also some consolation for the Italian fans who watched as first Fendi Racing failed to appear on the start line and then saw Poliform limp out of the race after just three laps.

With the race leaders disappearing into the distance, widening the gap from 15 seconds at the end of lap 3 to 40 seconds by race finish, the Spirit of Qatar crew had to keep one eye on Team Abu Dhabi who maintained a relentless pursuit but were unable to close down their Middle East rivals finishing 10 seconds adrift, with Al Hameli taking his second podium from three starts in Class 1 and Mansoori his first.

Belgium’s Frank Hemelaer marked his Class 1 debut alongside Luca Nicolini in FA.RO. ACCIAI moving up from eighth at the end of the first lap to finish in a very credible fifth place for Team D’Alessio-Scam on their season-entry into the Championship. Relekta came out on top winning the battle of the Norwegian outfits, finishing in sixth place after Welmax retired on lap five.

ITALIAN GRAND PRIX, RACE 1 - results

1. 3 Victory - A Al Zafeen (UAE) / N Bin Hendi (UAE) 00.34.05,39

2. 95 Spirit of Qatar - A Al Neama (QAT) / M Nicolini (ITA) + 00.41,00

3. 5 Team Abu Dhabi - A Al Hameli (UAE) / M Al Mansoori (UAE) + 00.51,25

4. 96 Spirit of Qatar - H Al Thani (QAT) / S Curtis (ENG) + 01.07,87

5. 23 FA.RO. ACCIAI - F Hemelaer (BEL) / L Nicolini (ITA) + 1 LAP

6. 91 Relekta - U Isik (TUR) / C Zaborowski (NOR) + 1 LAP

7. 90 Welmax – B Jacobsen (NOR) / K Olsen (NOR) DNF

8. 74 Poliform - G Cappellini (MON) / G Montavoci (ITA) DNF

10 Fendi Racing - L Formilli Fendi (ITA) / G Carpitella (ITA) DNS

18 MITI Tech Power – S Sardelli (ITA) / N Giorgi (ITA) DNS

RACE 2

Victory’s Arif Al Zafeen and Nadir bin Hendi completed the perfect weekend winning race 2 of the Italian Grand Prix to clinch the 2011 Class 1 European Championship in an incident-filled afternoon which saw Italians Luca Formilli Fendi and Giovanni Carpitella crash out.

It was another masterful display by the Victory pairing to mark their 25th career wins and retain their title, dominating from the start and going 50 seconds clear of Team Abu Dhabi and a distant chasing pack when the race was red flagged and bringing out the pace boat after Fendi Racing’s day ended in dramatic fashion, hooking and then rolling on lap seven, both Fendi and Carpitella emerging from the escape hatch in the upturned hull unhurt.

The pace boat led the fleet round for two laps before releasing them, with Al Zafeen and bin Hendi, asked to do it all again, and they did, immediately opening up a commanding lead and going on to take their fourth win of the year by over 20 seconds, completing the 16-lap, 70.92Nm race in 54mins 38.70secs.

The laps under the pace boat took their toll on Team Abu Dhabi, with yesterday’s third placed finishers Ahmed Al Hameli and Majed Al Mansoori pulling to the inside of the circuit and retiring from the race with technical problems.

For the tens-of-thousands of Italian powerboat fans who crammed into Cernobbio and lined the shores of Lake Como, the disappointment of seeing Fendi Racing’s exit soon changed when Poliform’s Guido Cappellini – who considers the lake to be his! – and Giampaolo Montavoci emerged after the restart in second place followed by Spirit of Qatar 96, Welmax and Spirit of Qatar 95 – both the Qatar outfits seeing their European title hopes fading fast.

After the frustrations of yesterday’s retirement it was an impressive turnaround by the all-Italian outfit, whose second place was never under pressure, taking their best result of the year and moving into fourth place in the overall Championship standings.

For the Spirit of Qatar Team it was an afternoon of mixed emotions, with Ali Al Neama and Matteo Nicolini enjoying an eventful afternoon, running in second spot for the opening three laps but were down in sixth place when the race was red flagged, then eventually clawing their way back up to third, passing their teammates Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor Al Thani and Steve Curtis on lap 11 - Welmax passed by both a lap earlier.

Whilst a good result for Al Neama and Nicolini, their second race podium of the weekend enough to move them into the runners-up spot in the European Championship, but at the expense of Sheikh Hassan and Curtis, who described it as ‘just one of those weekends when nothing went their way’ again missing out on the podium finishing in fourth place.

FA.RO. ACCIAI completed a more than satisfactory weekend on the team’s entry into the Championship, with the new partnership of Frank Hemelaer and Luca Nicolini again finishing well up in the points in fifth place. Welmax’s Bjorge Jacobsen and Kurt Olsen turned the tables on their Norwegian rivals to finish in sixth, ahead of Relekta’s Ugur Isik and Christian Zaborowski.

Today’s win for Al Zafeen and bin Hendi moves them into a commanding position in the World Championship standings and puts them 29-points clear of Spirit of Qatar 96 with the final Grand Prix of the season in Dubai on 8-10 December.

With 44 points on offer in Dubai the defending World Champions need just 15 as they bid to become the first Victory pairing to win the Grand slam of all four titles in a single season, the feat only ever achieved by Spirit Of Norway’s Bjorn Rune Gjelsten and Steve Curtis in 2003 and 2006.

ITALIAN GRAND PRIX, RACE 2 - results

1. 3 Victory - A Al Zafeen (UAE) / N Bin Hendi (UAE) 00.54.38,70

2. 74 Poliform - G Cappellini (MON) / G Montavoci (ITA) + 00.20,25

3. 95 Spirit of Qatar - A Al Neama (QAT) / M Nicolini (ITA) + 00.39,34

4. 96 Spirit of Qatar - H Al Thani (QAT) / S Curtis (ENG) + 00.48,76

5. 23 FA.RO. ACCIAI - F Hemelaer (BEL) / L Nicolini (ITA) + 02.13,28

6. 90 Welmax – B Jacobsen (NOR) / K Olsen (NOR) + 05.57,59

7. 91 Relekta - U Isik (TUR) / C Zaborowski (NOR) + 1 LAP

8. 5 Team Abu Dhabi - A Al Hameli (UAE) / M Al Mansoori (UAE) DNF

9. 10 Fendi Racing - L Formilli Fendi (ITA) / G Carpitella (ITA) DNF

18 MITI Tech Power - S Sardelli (ITA) / N Giorgi (ITA) DNS

UIM CLASS 1 WORLD POWERBOAT CHAMPIONSHIP - after race 5

1. 3 Victory - 103pts

2. 96 Spirit of Qatar - 74pts

3. 95 Spirit of Qatar - 66pts

4. 74 Poliform - 40pts

5. 5 Team Abu Dhabi - 38pts

6. 91 Relekta - 23pts

7= 10 Fendi Racing - 19pts

7= 90 Welmax - 19pts

9. 23 FA.RO. ACCIAI - 14pts

10. 50 Parsonage Racing - 8pts

11. 69 ferskfisken.no - 5 pts

12. 18 MITI Tech Power - 4pts

EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP - after race 3

1. 3 Victory - 55pts

2. 95 Spirit of Qatar - 39pts

3. 96 Spirit of Qatar - 38pts

4. 74 Poliform - 24pts

5. FA.RO. ACCIAI - 14pts

6. 91 Relekta - 13pts

7= 5 Team Abu Dhabi - 12pts

7= 90 Welmax - 12pts

9. 69 ferskfisken.no - 5 pts

10= 10 Fendi Racing - 0pts

10= 50 Parsonage Racing - 0pts

10= 18 MITI Tech Power - 0pts

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