Romanian Grand Prix - Class 1

[Ben Mazur]

Here's who will be there this weekend

[Ben Mazur]

The pole position runs have been done and things are looking good for Spirit of Norway 10 which took first place. Victory 77 was second and Qatar 96 third.

[Ben Mazur]

Full pole position results and a few pics.

01/09/2007

SPIRIT OF NORWAY QUICKEST IN QUALIFYING

Saturday, 1 September, MAMAIA (Romania): Bjorn Gjelsten and Steve Curtis maintained their unbeaten record in the Edox Pole Position, setting the fastest time in today’s official qualifying session, run on Mamaia’s Lake Siutghiol, to put Spirit of Norway into pole position for the Romanian Grand Prix, round four of the WPPA Class 1 World Powerboat Championship. "It was important to win today and be on pole for the race, but we must now make sure we make use of our advantage at the start," said Steve Curtis. "The start will be crucial and I think whoever gets into the first turn in front will be hard to beat. From a championship perspective, we have to win here and keep winning - second place is not an option for us if we want to get right back in the race for the title."

Today’s revised format for the Edox Pole Position – a single 90 minute session with teams having to complete a minimum of two timed laps, a maximum of four, and permitted to return to the wet pits to make adjustments to set-ups - was highly praised by all the teams and produced the most exciting qualifying session of the season, with the four quickest boats all out on the course in the closing minutes, looking to steal the pole position.

Gjelsten and Curtis followed Victory 77, Qatar 96 and Victory 7 out onto the course for their first run and immediately grabbed the provisional pole, with a time of 2m 41.71s, with Sheikh Hassan and Matteo Nicolini, Qatar 96, second quickest in 2m 46.00s ahead of the World Championship leader’s, Victory 77, in third, with Victory 7, Qatar 95 and Jotun completing the top six places. Mid-way through the session, Qatar 96 moved into second place with a time of 2m 43.79s and Jotun knocked three seconds off their time, posting 2m 46,32s, to move into contention and into third spot. With the clock counting down, the top four went again – Victory 77 producing their best time, 2m 43.53s to snatch second place, and with Qatar 96 and Jotun failing to improve on their times, Gjelsten and Curtis were able to ease off on their second run, knowing that their first timed lap had put Spirit of Norway into pole position.

And although pleased with their performance, Victory 77’s Jean-Marc Sanchez expressed concerns about their starting position. "Our set-up was good but on our first runs we lost a lot of time on the top turn. We changed our set-up and had a clean final run but it was just not quick enough," he said. "The start tomorrow will be the key to the race but second place is the worst possible position for us. We have Spirit on our inside and Qatar 96 outside us – if they both get good starts we will get squeezed, so we have to get a jump on them if we can."

After suffering engine problems during Friday’s practice, Qatar 96 produced a strong showing in qualifying with third quickest. "Matteo and I had a bad start to the weekend and decided to make an engine change, but it proved to be the right decision and we found the performance we needed straight away," said Sheikh Hassan. "We were a little unlucky at the end of qualifying because the conditions worsened when we went for our final run, but I think tomorrow we will be in contention for the win – we have to win and hope Victory 77 stops if we are to win the European Championship."

And fourth fastest for Jorn Tandberg and Christian Zaborowski, was an excellent comeback for the team, who have worked round the clock to have Jotun ready for this weekend, after crashing out of the last race in Oslo at the first corner.

With just two seconds separating the top three, the Romanian Grand Prix promises to be a hard fought and intriguing battle, with Sanchez admitting that their first priority is to ensure that they finish to win the European title. For Qatar 96, a win is the only option if they are to stand any chance of the title going to them and for Spirit of Norway, anything other than a win will severely dent the defence of their world title.

EDOX POLE POSITION
1. Spirit of Norway 10 – B Gjelsten (NOR)/S Curtis (GB) – 2m 41.71s
2. Victory 77 – A Al Zafeen(UAE)/JM Sanchez (FR) – 2m 43.53s
3. Qatar 96 – H Al Thani (QAT)/M Nicolini (ITA) – 2m 43.79s
4. Jotun 90 – C Zaborowski (NOR)/J Tandberg (NOR) - 2m 46.32s
5. Qatar 95 – A Al Sulaiti (QAT)/L Nicolini (ITA) – 2m 47.86s
6. Victory 7 – T Al Sayed (UAE)/N Hendi (UAE) – 2m 48.61s
7. Negotiator 50 – B Eker (NOR)/C Parsonage (GB) – 2m 51.70s
8. Spirit of Norway 20 – T Barry-Cotter (AUS)/P Nilsen (NOR) – 2m 52.89s
9. Foresti & Suardi 8 – M Pennesi (ITA)/G Montavoci (ITA) – 2m 54.54s
10. SeveneleveN 18 – T Polli (ITA)/N Giorgi (ITA) – 3m 16.40s
11. VM Foresti & Suardi 2 – D Cirilli (ESP)/K Selmer (NOR) – dns

EDOX POLE POSITION CHAMPIONSHIP – after round 3 of 7
1. Spirit of Norway 10 – B Gjelsten (NOR)/S Curtis (GB) – 60pts
2. Victory 77 – A Al Zafeen(UAE)/JM Sanchez (FR) – 42pts
3. Victory 7 – A Al Sayed (UAE)/N Hendi (UAE) – 32pts
4. Qatar 96 – H Al Thani (QAT)/M Nicolini (ITA) – 30pts
5= Jotun 90 – C Zaborowski (NOR)/J Tandberg (NOR) 19pts
5= Qatar 95 – A Al Sulaiti (QAT)/L Nicolini (ITA) – 19pts
7. Spirit of Norway 20 – T Barry-Cotter (AUS)/P Nilsen (NOR) – 12pts
8. Foresti & Suardi 8 – M Pennesi (ITA)/G Montavoci (ITA) – 9pts
9= SeveneleveN 18 – T Polli (ITA)/N Giorgi (ITA) – 4pts
9= Negotiator 50 – B Eker (NOR)/C Parsonage (GB) – 4pts
11. VM Foresti & Suardi 2 – D Cirilli (ESP)/K Selmer (NOR) – 2pts

[Ben Mazur]

Photos by Roberta Pala and Refaello Bastiani and courtesy of Class 1.

[Ben Mazur]

That's a quote from Curtis who isn't exactly happy with some drivers.

02/09/2007

VICTORY 77 WINS IN MAMAIA AND CROWNED EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS

Sunday, 2 September: MAMAIA (Romania): Victory 77’s Arif Al Zafeen and Jean-Marc Sanchez took their third win of the season in an incident filled Romanian Grand Prix, round four of the WPPA Class 1 World Powerboat Championship, to clinch the 2007 WPPA Class 1 European Championship. Second place went to Sheikh Hassan Al-Thani and Matteo Nicolini in Qatar 96, with team mates, Abdullah-Al Sulaiti and Luca Nicolini completing the podium in third.

Following a chaotic start, with two boats appearing to go early, and despite starting from second place on the start line, Al Zafeen and Sanchez were lying in third place at the end of lap 1, behind Negotiator, with team mates, Al Sayed and Nadir bin Hendi, Victory 7, out in front. They overhauled Negotiator a lap later and fought back to grab the lead on lap 6. For the next three laps, Victory 77 fought off a strong challenge from rivals Qatar 96, who had moved up through the field from fifth place on the first lap, to be challenging for the lead.

On lap 10, Victory 77 took their first long-lap, but as they came off the lap, had to swerve violently to avoid Qatar 96, coming out of the turn. For the next 10 laps, Al Zafeen and Sanchez were able to maintain a narrow advantage over Qatar 96, going on to take the win and extend their world championship lead to 19 points. "I think that was one of the best races of my career," said Jean-Marc Sanchez. "It was a tough race. We gave 100 per cent from the start-to-finish. There were some dirty manoeuvres out there and some backmarkers that caused us problems. But we won and we are happy about that and we have our first title of the season." Asked about the incident on the long-lap with Qatar 96, Sanchez dismissed it, saying ‘that’s racing’.

Second place for Sheikh Hassan and Matteo Nicolini, their fourth consecutive podium of the season, was not enough for the duo to regain the European crown they won in 2005, but keeps them in the hunt for the overall title. "We missed out on the title, but it was an excellent weekend for the team with second and third places," said Sheikh Hassan. "Our performance was good and I think we may have been a little faster than 77 at times, but not enough to get past them. But Abdullah and Luca showed great improvements in Qatar 95 and Matteo and I managed to take crucial championship points to remain in second place in the championship and maintain the pressure on Victory 77."

Qatar 95’s first podium of the season was well deserved and hard fought for, with Al-Sulaiti and Luca Nicolini, moving from fifth place into third on lap 9. "I think everyone saw that the start was not good. But we drove very hard and we pushed the boat all the way to make the podium. And from here we can build on this performance." said Al-Sulaiti.

Fourth place for Spirit of Norway was not the result they were looking for in a race that went wrong for them at the start, finding themselves down in eighth place at the end of lap 1 after starting from pole position. Having clawed their way back into fourth place, Gjelsten and Curtis then spun out on lap 7 while trying to pass Victory 7, dropping them back down the running order to sixth. And a penalty long-lap incurred several laps later for hitting a turn-buoy ended their hopes of a podium, and despite moving into third place in the title race, are now 30 points off the lead. But both Gjelsten and Curtis were clearly unimpressed and angered by the tactics used by some of their rivals. "Some people out there are driving like idiots and ignoring the rules." said Curtis.

After a frustrating season so far and a difficult weekend, Chris Parsonage and Bard Eker produced easily their best showing, bringing Negotiator home in fifth. "After all the problems that we have had, that was a good result for us," said Parsonage. "It was a bit of a dog-fight out there and we had a good fight with Qatar 95. The boat ran well but we needed more speed but knew from the set-up we opted for we would be slightly compromised. But to finish in fifth is great for the team after all the hard work."

Giampaolo Montavoci and Marco Pennesi, won their on-going battle with Tom Barry-Cotter and Pal Nilsen, finishing in sixth ahead of Spirit Norway 20, with Jotun salvaging three points in eighth after breaking a propeller, with SeveneleveN and VM Foresti & Suardi picking up points in ninth and tenth. Victory 7 was the only retirement of the race, after breaking a propeller and damaging the boat.

ROMANIAN GRAND PRIX
1. Victory 77 – A Al Zafeen(UAE)/JM Sanchez (FR)
2. Qatar 96 – H Al Thani (QAT)/M Nicolini (ITA) + 00.12,12
3. Qatar 95 – A Al Sulaiti (QAT)/L Nicolini (ITA) + 01.33,87
4. Spirit of Norway 10 – B Gjelsten (NOR)/S Curtis (GB) + 02.10,83
5. Negotiator 50 – B Eker (NOR)/C Parsonage (GB) + 02.34,11
6. Foresti & Suardi 8 – M Pennesi (ITA)/G Montavoci (ITA) + 2 laps
7. Spirit of Norway 20 – T Barry-Cotter (AUS)/P Nilsen (NOR) + 2 laps
8. Jotun 90 – C Zaborowski (NOR)/J Tandberg (NOR) + 4 laps
9. SeveneleveN 18 – T Polli (ITA)/N Giorgi (ITA) +4 laps
10. VM Foresti & Suardi 2 – D Cirilli (ESP)/K Selmer (NOR) + 4 laps
Victory 7 – T Al Sayed (UAE)/N B Hendi (UAE) - dnf

WPPA CLASS 1 WORLD POWERBOAT CHAMPIONSHIP – after round 4 of 8
1. Victory 77 – A Al Zafeen(UAE)/JM Sanchez (FR) – 79pts
2. Qatar 96 – H Al Thani (QAT)/M Nicolini (ITA) – 60pts
3. Spirit of Norway 10 – B Gjelsten (NOR)/S Curtis (GB) – 49pts
4. Victory 7 – T Al Sayed (UAE)/N B Hendi (UAE) – 44pts
5. Qatar 95 – A Al Sulaiti (QAT)/L Nicolini (ITA) – 36pts
6. Foresti & Suardi 8 – M Pennesi (ITA)/G Montavoci (ITA) – 22pts
7. Spirit of Norway 20 – T Barry-Cotter (AUS)/P Nilsen (NOR) – 20pts
8. Negotiator 50 – B Eker (NOR)/C Parsonage (GB) – 12pts
9. SeveneleveN 18 – T Polli (ITA)/N Giorgi (ITA) – 10pts
10. VM Foresti & Suardi 2 – D Cirilli (ESP)/K Selmer (NOR) – 5pts
11. Jotun 90 – C Zaborowski (NOR)/J Tandberg (NOR) - 3pts

WPPA CLASS 1 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP – after round 4 of 4
1. Victory 77 – A Al Zafeen(UAE)/JM Sanchez (FR) – 75pts
2. Qatar 96 – H Al Thani (QAT)/M Nicolini (ITA) – 54pts
3. Spirit of Norway 10 – B Gjelsten (NOR)/S Curtis (GB) – 41pts
4. Victory 7 – T Al Sayed (UAE)/N B Hendi (UAE) – 36pts
5. Qatar 95 – A Al Sulaiti (QAT)/L Nicolini (ITA) – 28pts
6. Foresti & Suardi 8 – M Pennesi (ITA)/G Montavoci (ITA) – 18pts
7. Spirit of Norway 20 – T Barry-Cotter (AUS)/P Nilsen (NOR) – 16pts
8= SeveneleveN 18 – T Polli (ITA)/N Giorgi (ITA) – 7pts
8= Negotiator 50 – B Eker (NOR)/C Parsonage (GB) – 7pts
10. Jotun 90 – C Zaborowski (NOR)/J Tandberg (NOR) - 3pts
11. VM Foresti & Suardi 2 – D Cirilli (ESP)/K Olsen (NOR) – 1pt

(world championship points include bonus points allocated to teams running engines for two consecutive races - one point, per engine, per race)