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| Khalid bin Arhama al-Kuwari (left), head of formula racing at the Qatar Marine Sports Federation (QMSF), and Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor al-Thani (right), president of the QMSF, pose with Qatar’s former world champion Jay Price (centre) at a special gala dinner held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel on Friday night. Price was honoured for his services to the QMSF. Price won the 2008 UIM F1 H20 World Championship with the Qatar Team and served the QMSF for several seasons in F1 and F2000. He resigned from the team after finishing second overall to Alex Carella at the end of the 2011 season |
Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor al-Thani and Steve Curtis claimed the final podium position in the second race at the Pearl Qatar Grand Prix, round one of the UIM Class One World Powerboat Championship, in Doha yesterday.
The Victory 3 crew of Arif Saif Al-Zafeen and Mohamed Al-Marri overcame a fierce early challenge from Guido Cappellini and Gian Maria Gabbiani in Poliform to eventually take the chequered flag from Team Abu Dhabi’s Rashid Al-Tayer and Majed al-Mansoori by a margin of 15.72 seconds.
Spirit of Qatar 95’s Ali al-Neama and Matteo Nicolini finished fourth overall, but it was a disappointing conclusion to the weekend for the Qatar Marine Sports Federation (QMSF)-backed team after the superb showing on Thursday.
It meant that Victory 3 and Spirit of Qatar 96 both had a win and a third position to show for their Qatar weekend and Team Abu Dhabi had earned a pair of second-placed finishes.
“There’s always the next race,” reflected Sheikh Hassan, driver of third-placed Spirit of Qatar 96 and joint leader of the championship. “I wasn’t too bothered about the lack of wind. I knew we did not have the acceleration or the top speed. It is wide open. The championship has not been this way for the past few years. Our fastest lap today is less than half a second slower than the leading boat, so we can go back and plan something for the next race.”
Following Spirit of Qatar 95’s disqualification from race one results for a minor technical non-conformity, the two Qatar boats lined up in first and fourth places for the second 11-lap race of the weekend on the revised 6.63Nm course off the Pearl.
Qatar mechanics eventually discovered that a corroded battery switch had been to blame for the engine issues that had affected Spirit of Qatar 95 on Wednesday and Thursday. A small test on Friday confirmed that the engine was running well.
The race started in calmer conditions than the Spirit of Qatar team had anticipated and Poliform was the surprise leader, the Italian crewed boat edging into a 3.08s advantage over Victory 3, with Spirit of Qatar 96 and 95 down in fourth and sixth places. Poliform maintained the initiative through lap two and Spirit of Qatar 95 passed Fendi Racing to take fifth, but the Qatar boats were clearly struggling to make up water on the leading trio.
The field held station through lap three but Poliform’s lead was reduced to 1.75s by the end of lap four. Victory 3 managed to pass on the next lap and began to pull away from the field to take a near 10-second advantage into lap six, as the two Qatar boats remained entrenched in fourth and fifth.
The race passed the halfway point and Victory 3’s lead had grown to 16.96s, but Poliform was in trouble and stopped and Team Abu Dhabi took up the chase in second place, with Spirit of Qatar 96 and 95 climbing to third and fourth. But Victory 3 continued to edge clear over the next tour of the Doha Bay course and reached lap eight with a 16.03s advantage.
There were no changes to the running order through laps eight and nine and Victory 3 began the final lap with an 18.89s lead over Team Abu Dhabi, with Spirit of Qatar 96 and 95 in third and fourth and Fendi Racing bringing up the rear of the field in fifth. The Dubai team held on to reach the chequered flag 15.72s clear of Team Abu Dhabi, with the Qatar boats in third and fourth.
Gabon joins 2012 Class One calendar
Officials at H20 Racing have now added a new venue to the calendar for the 2012 UIM Class One World Powerboat Championship calendar. The scenic West African country of Gabon, which co-hosted the recent Africa Cup of Nations, is scheduled to play host to the next round of the series in Libreville on June 29-July 1, 2012. The African race will replace the Norwegian Grand Prix in Norway, which has now been cancelled and had originally been intended for the same weekend.