Class 1 Scandinavian Grand Prix

[Ben Mazur]

Spirit of Norway does well again in the practice sessions. Wonder if they have gotton over their reliability problems?

From the Class 1 web site

10/08/2007

SPIRIT OF NORWAY SET THE EARLY PACE

Friday, 10 August: Bjorn Gjelsten and Steve Curtis were the early pace setters in today’s first official practice session for Sunday’s Scandinavia Grand Prix, round 3 of the WPPA Class 1 World Powerboat Championship, with Spirit of Norway posting the fastest time of 2mins 31.82secs around the 4.6Nm course on Oslo fjord, on their final lap of the session. Qatar 96’s Sheikh Hassan and Matteo Nicolini went second fastest, three seconds adrift with championship leader’s Arif Al Zaffen and Jean-Marc Sanchez, a further three seconds behind, posting the third fastest time, but ending the session prematurely with a broken engine.

Of the eleven boats that will line up on Sunday, several used today’s session to try out new driver line-ups, Talib Al Saeed, stepping in for Ahmed Al Suwaidi to partner Nadir bin Hendi in Victory 7 - the new pairing posting a very credible fourth fastest ahead of Qatar 95 - with Norwegian, Kolbjorn Selmer, making his debut behind the wheel of a Class 1 powerboat, joining Giampaolo Montavoci in Foresti&Suardi.

After a frustrating opening to their season, Chris Parsonage and Bard Eker were at last able to run 11 uninterrupted laps, gradually bringing their times down to grab sixth quickest, before an oil pressure problem shut down one engine, forcing them back to the pits.

For Gjelsten and Curtis, a podium finish on Sunday – if not a win – is crucial to their title defence. "We were quite hard on the boat on the early laps to see if the work we have carried out since Arendal has resolved the problems we have had," said Curtis. "After that we tried out different lines and were happy the session. We know we have the speed and a good boat and have done all that is possible to give us reliability. Now we have to complete race distance without any problems"

Official practice:
1. Spirit of Norway 10 – Gjelsten (NOR)/Curtis (GB) 02.31,82
2. Qatar 96 – Al Thani (QAT)/Nicolini (ITA) 02.34,98
3. Victory 77 – Al Zafeen(UAE)/Sanchez (FR) 02.37,46
4. Victory 7 – T Al Saeed (UAE)/Hendi (UAE) 02.38,01
5. Qatar 95 – Al Sulaiti (QAT)/L Nicolini (ITA) 02,39,11
6. Negotiator 50 – Eker (NOR)/Parsonage (GB) 02.40,20
7. Spirit of Norway 20 – Barry-Cotter (AUS)/Nilsen (NOR) 02.50,11
8. Foresti & Suardi 8 – K Selmer (ITA)/ Montavoci (ITA) 02.55,68
9. SeveneleveN 18 – Polli (ITA)/Giorgi (ITA) 03.11,11
VM Foresti & Suardi 2 – D Cirilli/K Olsen (NOR) - dnf
Jotun 90 – Zaborowski (NOR)/Tandberg (NOR) - dns

[Ben Mazur]

Practice session photos

[Ben Mazur]

All pics courtesy of Class 1

[Ben Mazur]

Just received this from Class 1

WPPA CLASS 1 WORLD POWERBOAT CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 3 - SCANDINAVIAN GRAND PRIX, OSLO, NORWAY, 10—12 AUGUST 2007



08/11/2007
SPIRIT OF NORWAY QUICKEST IN QUALIFYING

Saturday, 11 August - OSLO (Norway): Bjorn Gjelsten and Steve Curtis, Spirit of Norway, will start the Scandinavian Grand Prix, round 3 of the WPPA Class 1 World Powerboat Championship, in Pole Position after going quickest in today’s official qualifying session in Oslo.

Gjelsten and Curtis grabbed the early initiative, setting the fastest time in the first session, to secure their place in the 25 minute shoot-out alongside Victory 77, Victory 7, Qatar 96 and Qatar 95. In the second session it was Qatar 96’s Sheikh Hassan Al-Thani and Matteo Nicolini who led the boats out onto the water and set the marker, posting a time of 2m 37.35s. But this was immediately bettered by Spirit of Norway, on their first of two laps, with a time of 2m 30.09secs around the 4.6Nm lap at an average speed of 220.32kmh/136.93mph, to secure the Pole.

Producing one of the most impressive performances of the afternoon and in their first competitive outing together was Victory 7’s new pairing of Talib Al Sayed and Nadir Bin Hendi, going second quickest in 2m 32.32s to upstage their team-mates and championship leader’s, Arif Saif Al Zafeen and Jean-Marc Sanchez in third place, with Abdullah Al-Sulaiti and Luca Nicolini, lining up on the outside of the front row in fifth spot with team-mates Qatar 96 on their inside.

Class 1’s youngest pairing, Tom Barry-Cotter and Pal Nilsen, in Spirit of Norway 20, produced another solid performance to secure sixth fastest overall and will lead the second start line after missing out on the final shoot-out by less than two seconds. For the second race in-a-row, Foresti & Suardi field a new driver pairing with Norwegian, Kurt Olsen, joining Giampaolo Montavoci, the pair posting a credible seventh fastest time. Jotun’s problems continued, when a blown engine in the first session thwarted their hopes of a front row start, and they line up in eighth place ahead of SeveneleveN, with VM Foresti & Suardi and Negotiator both failing to start, lining up in tenth and eleventh positions.

EDOX POLE POSITION
(shoot-out – 25 minutes)
1. Spirit of Norway 10 – Gjelsten (NOR)/Curtis (GB) – 2m 30.09s
2. Victory 7 – Al Sayed (UAE)/Hendi (UAE) – 2m 32.32s
3. Victory 77 – Al Zafeen(UAE)/Sanchez (FR) – 2m 35.07s
4. Qatar 96 – Al-Thani (QAT)/M Nicolini (ITA) – 2m 37.35s
5. Qatar 95 – Al-Sulaiti (QAT)/L Nicolini (ITA) – 2m 41.51s

(first session – 50 minutes)
6. Spirit of Norway 20 – Barry-Cotter (AUS)/Nilsen (NOR) 2m 42.11s
7. Foresti & Suardi 8 – Olsen (NOR)/ Montavoci (ITA) 2m 42.57s
8. Jotun 90 – Zaborowski (NOR)/Tandberg (NOR) – 2m 44.79s
9. SeveneleveN 18 – Polli (ITA)/Giorgi (ITA) – 3m 02.28s
Negotiator 50 – Eker (NOR)/Parsonage (GB) - dns
VM Foresti & Suardi 2 – Cirilli (ESP)/Pennesi (ITA) - dns

EDOX POLE POSITION CHAMPIONSHIP – after round 2 of 7
1. Spirit of Norway 10 – Gjelsten (NOR)/Curtis (GB) – 40pts
2= Victory 77 – Al Zafeen(UAE)/Sanchez (FR) – 27pts
2= Victory 7 – Al Sayed (UAE)/Hendi (UAE) – 27pts
4. Qatar 96 – Al Thani (QAT)/M Nicolini (ITA) – 18pts
5. Qatar 95 – Al Sulaiti (QAT)/L Nicolini (ITA) – 12pts
6. Jotun 90 – Zaborowski (NOR)/Tandberg (NOR) 10pts
7. Spirit of Norway 20 – Barry-Cotter (AUS)/Nilsen (NOR) – 9pts
8. Foresti & Suardi 8 – Olsen (NOR)/Montavoci (ITA) – 7pts
9. SeveneleveN 18 – Polli (ITA)/Giorgi (ITA) – 3pt
10. VM Foresti & Suardi 2 – Cirilli (ESP)/Pennesi (ITA) – 2pts
Negotiator 50 – Eker (NOR)/Parsonage (GB)

[Ben Mazur]

Quick and preliminary results. Full results to follow later

1 Spirit of Norway 10

2 Victory 77

3 Qatar 96

[Rupert Munro]

Full Results:

1. Spirit of Norway 10 – B Gjelsten (NOR)/S Curtis (GB) + 00.00,00
2. Victory 77 – A Al Zafeen(UAE)/JM Sanchez (FR) + 00.09,52
3. Qatar 96 – H Al Thani (QAT)/M Nicolini (ITA) + 01.04,29
4. Victory 7 – T Al Sayed (UAE)/N B Hendi (UAE) + 01.33,18
5. Qatar 95 – A Al Sulaiti (QAT)/L Nicolini (ITA) + 1 LAP
6. Spirit of Norway 20 – T Barry-Cotter (AUS)/P Nilsen (NOR) + 1 LAP
7. Foresti & Suardi 8 – M Pennesi (ITA)/G Montavoci (ITA) + 2 LAP
VM Foresti & Suardi 2 – D Cirilli (ESP)/K Olsen (NOR) – dnf
SeveneleveN 18 – T Polli (ITA)/N Giorgi (ITA) - dnf
Jotun 90 – C Zaborowski (NOR)/J Tandberg (NOR) - dnf
Negotiator 50 – B Eker (NOR)/C Parsonage (GB) – dnf

[Rupert Munro]

Class - 1 race report

Sunday, 12 August: OSLO (Norway): Bjorn Gjelsten and Steve Curtis produced an emphatic performance in Spirit of Norway to win today’s Scandinavian Grand Prix, round 3 of the WPPA World Powerboat Championship, and put their world title defence back on track, with Victory 77’s Arif Al Zafeen and Jean-Marc Sanchez, the championship leader’s, finishing second ahead of Sheikh Hassan and Matteo Nicolini in Qatar 96.

But it was the first corner of the start lap that produced a spectacular incident, with the all Norwegian crew of Jotun, Jorn Tandberg and Christian Zaborowski, crashing out after taking evasive action to avoid hitting Qatar 95. "We have very bad luck at the moment," said Christian Zaborowski, after a frustrating weekend. "We made up a lot of ground after a poor start from the second row and went into the corner with Victory 7 ahead and inside us and Qatar 95 outside us. Suddenly we saw Qatar come across in front of us and we had nowhere to go. We pulled out of the turn to avoid going into the back of them, and went over." Both pilots emerged unscathed from the incident with the boat suffering some damage.

For Gjelsten and Curtis a win was essential to keep them in the title race, with the Anglo-Norwegian pairing also looking to complete the double in Oslo, after winning Saturday’s Edox Pole Position. Gjelsten and Curtis pushed from the flag and despite a poor start, eventually won the drag-race down the straight to lead into the first corner ahead of Victory 77 and Qatar 96. And with clear water in front of them, were able to gradually build a solid lead, going on to complete a comfortable flag-to-finish win. "We knew how important it was for us to win here," said Gjelsten. "We made a poor start but halfway down the straight managed to edge ahead. We took a risk and went hard into the corner and it paid off. Now we have to remain focussed and repeat this win in Romania to keep the pressure on the boats ahead of us in the championship."

Second place for Victory 77 keeps them 15 points clear in the race for the world title and now makes them odds on favourites to clinch the European title at the next race in Constanta, Romania. "Yes, happy with second but the race was decided at the start," said Jean-Marc Sanchez. "We made a good start but never managed to get ahead of Spirit enough to move across so we had to maintain our line. On a short course like this, after about three laps, if you are behind it is hell. You catch all the wash and it makes it very difficult."

Despite a third consecutive podium for Qatar 96, Sheikh Hassan Al-Thani was disappointed with third place. "I am not that pleased with this result. I really thought we would do better here in Oslo but clearly we are still lacking some speed from the boat," he said. "But we knew this race would be tough after seeing the times from qualifying of Spirit and Victory. Now if we are to have any hope of taking the European title we have to hope that 77 have a very poor race and we win."

The battle for top six places behind the leading trio was headed by Victory 7, with the new partnership of Nadir Bin Hendi and Talib Al Sayed, making his Class 1 race debut, producing their second very credible performance of the weekend, finishing fourth ahead of Abdullah Al-Sulaiti and Luca Nicolini in Qatar 95, who despite seeing some improvements in the boats performance this weekend, still lacked the pace needed to match the front runners. Behind Qatar 95, Tom Barry-Cotter and Pal Nilsen enjoyed a second consecutive race-long battle with Foresti & Suardi’s, Giampaolo Montavoci and Marco Pennesi, but this time Spirit of Norway 20’s young pairing won the battle to take their second top sixth finish of the season.

But there was disappointment for Domenico Cirilli and Kurt Olsen in VM Foresti & Suardi, heading the list of retirees, stopping on lap 11, with SeveneleveN’s Nicola Giorgi and Tomaso Polli going out on lap 7. For Chris Parsonage and Bard Eker, the frustrations piled up with Negotiator failing to make the start.

Class 1 now heads to Constanta for the Romanian Grand Prix on Sunday, 2 September, where the European title will be decided, which, barring a disaster looks destined to go to Victory 77. But today’s win for Gjelsten and Curtis, posts notice to their rivals, that the defending World Champions, Spirit of Norway are back to their best and still very much in the hunt for the world title.

[Ben Mazur]

Race pics

[Ben Mazur]

All photos by Simon Palfrader -

[Ben Mazur]

and Rafaello Bastiani

[Driverofdonzi]

Awesome! :)