Agencies/DubaiSheikh Hassan bin Jabor al-Thani and Ali al-Neama are making their final preparations for this weekend’s Skydive Dubai-Dubai Duty Free Grand Prix, the fourth and final round of this year’s UIM Class 1 World Powerboat Championship.The president of the Qatar Marine Sports Federation (QMSF) again teams up with Steve Curtis MBE in Spirit of Qatar 96. Al-Neama is joined by Italy’s Matteo Nicolini at the helm of Spirit of Qatar 95, with both crews eyeing the Middle East Powerboat Championship title and a triumphant finale to the shortened Class 1 racing season. Sheikh Hassan still has an excellent chance to snatch the outright World Championship title from the grasp of Dubai’s Victory 3 and knows that a good start is required in the first of the two Dubai offshore races on Friday afternoon.“The weather forecast does not look good for the race weekend,” said Sheikh Hassan. “But I do believe that we have a good chance in both races, as our boats work well in rougher conditions. I hope that this will work to our advantage, so I am hoping for moderate seas this weekend.“The forecast has mentioned windy conditions and I am sure that the course will need to be changed, as the boats will be running against a head wind and that could be dangerous. We have already spoken publicly about the course, stating that it’s unsafe if we get windy conditions. I hope our views have been taken on board.”Sheikh Hassan realises that the Victory 3 boat is the one to beat on its home course, but is confident nonetheless. “Victory Team is running a shorter boat, which I think is a disadvantage in open sea conditions. I think, if I was them, I would go all out for the win, but they have so much on their plate this weekend from everybody! I think we will need to create a team plan to stop them winning the Middle East Championship.”Dependant upon the weather, the Spirit of Qatar Team was planning a test session before the racing action gets underway with the official first practice on Thursday afternoon at 14.00hrs (UAE time). Spirit of Qatar 95 can mathematically still win the title, but Sheikh Hassan admits that ‘this may be a team decision come race day.”“Our goal, quite simply, is the number one slot on the podium and we will work towards that as a team. We will also aim to win the Middle East Championship.”Spirit of Qatar 96 currently trails Victory 3 by just 10 points in the Middle East title race, with two races remaining. Spirit of Qatar 95 is a further 11 points behind and also has an excellent chance of clinching either first or second overall in the Edox Pole Position Championship. Al-Neama and Nicolini are one point ahead of Team Abu Dhabi and trail Victory 3 by 13 points heading into Friday’s final Edox Pole Position of the season. The all-important Edox Pole Position starts at 09.30hrs on Friday morning and is followed by the first 55.26Nm Dubai race at 14.00hrs. This will take place over one start lap, 10 normal laps of the course and one compulsory long lap. After a final practice session from 10.00hrs on Saturday morning, the second Skydive Dubai-Dubai Duty Free Grand Prix starts at 14.00hrs and will take place over one start lap, 13 normal laps and two compulsory long laps to make a total of 73.86 Nm.
Qatar’s Price and Carella face crucial showdown in Abu DhabiThe Qatar Team’s Jay Price and Alex Carella face the most important racing weekend of their season when they tackle the 20th Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi, the penultimate round of the UIM F1 H20 World Championship, on Friday.After seeing their overall lead in the Drivers’ Championship pegged back by Team Abu Dhabi in Liuzhou back in October, Price arrives at the Abu Dhabi International Marine Sports Club with a three-point lead over team-mate Carella, with Emirati Thani al-Qamzi still in contention to challenge for the title with two races remaining. Al-Qamzi trails Price by 12 points, with a possible 40 available this weekend and the following weekend in Sharjah. To boost the Qatar Team’s chances of clinching the UIM F1 H20 Teams’ Cup in Abu Dhabi and to bolster Price’s and Carella’s challenge for individual honours, Shaun Torrente will join the team for the first time in a third boat. “Before Liuzhou we were in a very strong position to seal the championship here, but the outcome in Liuzhou has changed our hand and mixed the cards,” said Khalid bin Arhama al-Kuwari, head of formula racing at the (QMSF), which runs under the presidency of Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor al-Thani. “There will be no team orders between Jay and Alex. As the team manager, my goal is for the Qatar Team to win the title and whoever of our two drivers makes it to the top of the points will be the winner.”