anything from Dubai

[Pete454]

any word from Dubai yet, I should be getting a report soon as Paul Whittier and Gary Ballough have travelled to defend thier title. in Class 3 ???


outboard cats??

[Rupert Munro]

No update on the P1 site yet. Race days are the 29th Nov - 1st Dec and 6th - 8th of Dec.

[Ryan Beckley]

The outboard Class 3 6 litre race is Friday......

[Cookee]

Derek Basham is racing with Ian Blacker this year, and they went out on Sunday to fit new canopy lids and do some testing - good luck to them and the other competitors this weekend!

[Pete454]

Thanks Ryan Beckley

[Dr Speed]

The outboard Class 3 6 litre race is Friday......

Ryan,
If you ever want to head over there and looking for a driver/t-man or crew member I'd love to go.

[Rupert Munro]

From C1:

Friday, 30 November DUBAI (UAE): Spirit of Norway’s Bjorn Gjelsten and Steve Curtis made it six wins out of six after setting the fastest time in today’s Edox Pole Position, posting 3m 05.06s around the 4.4Nm circuit, on their first run of the qualifying session. "Going out first was the right thing to do and it is the same tactic we have applied pretty much all year, but our set-up wasn’t perfect and we didn’t actually have a great lap – but it was obviously better than anyone else could manage." said Steve Curtis. Norwegians Jorn Tandberg and Christian Zaborowski produced their best qualifying performance of the season to take second place in 3m 06.68s, with Abdullah Al-Sulaiti and Luca Nicolini, Qatar 95, also producing their best outing, going third quickest with a time of 3m 07.70s.

For Sheikh Hassan and Matteo Nicolini in Qatar 96, fourth fastest on the day may not have been the result they were looking for, knowing that they must go for the win in tomorrow’s Mina Seyahi Grand Prix, but they are where they need to be, ahead of their title rivals and championship leaders Victory 77, who, after suffering minor technical problems, will start from sixth position tomorrow, with Chris Parsonage and Bard Eker in Negotiator between them and Qatar 96, in fifth after producing their best performance in qualifying.

Spirit of Norway’s decision to try for a fast lap early in the session proved decisive as the strong winds and rough seas increased during the session, with the target time they set for their rivals, 3m 05.06s ultimately proving unbeatable. Spirit of Norway 20, Victory 77 and Fainplast’s new pairing, Kolbjorn Selmer and Giovanni Carpitella were next out but all failed to trouble the provisional pole sitters - Victory 77’s time of 3m 15.95s proving to be the best. The first real threat to Spirit of Norway came from Jotun with 3m 06.68s on their opener, missing out by less than two seconds to go second quickest, ahead of Victory 77. Negotiator’s opening gambit, 3m 18.09s fell short but put them into fourth spot, only to see their time immediately bettered by Qatar 95 with 3m 07.70s, and then by team-mates Qatar 96,with 3m 13.96s and both moving ahead of Victory 77.

Both Qatar boats went again, but failed to unseat Spirit of Norway or Jotun – despite Qatar 96 improving its time by six seconds - and with the clock counting down, Negotiator went for its second run and edged ahead of Victory 77, with Jotun failing to improve. Fainplast and SeveneleveN both improved on their second runs, with Victory 7 the only outfit to use all four laps, their best time, 3m 19.73s, set on their final run.

The championship leaders, Victory 77, line up for tomorrow’s Mina Seyahi Grand Prix in sixth place but with a 22-point lead, and know that if they can get ahead of their title rivals Qatar 96 and finish ahead of them, the world championship is theirs. But if Qatar 96 can stay ahead and finish with several boats between themselves and Victory 77, the championship will hinge on a nerve-tingling final race of the season in Dubai in a week’s time.

EDOX POLE POSITION – round 6
1. Spirit of Norway 10 – B Gjelsten (NOR)/S Curtis (GB) – 3m 05.06s
2. Jotun 90 – C Zaborowski (NOR)/J Tandberg (NOR) – 3m 06.68s
3. Qatar 95 – A Al Sulaiti (QAT)/L Nicolini (ITA) – 3m 07.70s
4. Qatar 96 – H Al Thani (QAT)/M Nicolini (ITA) – 3m 08.98s
5. Negotiator 50 – B Eker (NOR)/C Parsonage (GB) – 3m 15.29s
6. Victory 77 – A Al Zafeen(UAE)/JM Sanchez (FR) – 3m 15.95s
7. Victory 7 – T Al Sayed (UAE)/N Hendi (UAE) – 3m 19.73s
8. Spirit of Norway 20 – T Barry-Cotter (AUS)/P Nilsen (NOR) – 3m 21.07s
9. Fainplast 2 – K Selmer (NOR)/G Carpitella (ITA) – 3m 40.67s
10. SeveneleveN 18 – T Polli (ITA)/N Giorgi (ITA) – 3m 50.45s
Foresti & Suardi 8 – M Pennesi (ITA)/G Montavoci (ITA) – DNS

EDOX POLE POSITION CHAMPIONSHIP – after round 6 of 7
1. Spirit of Norway 10 – B Gjelsten (NOR)/S Curtis (GB) – 120pts
2. Victory 77 – A Al Zafeen(UAE)/JM Sanchez (FR) – 63pts
3. Qatar 96 – H Al Thani (QAT)/M Nicolini (ITA) – 61pts
4. Jotun 90 – C Zaborowski (NOR)/J Tandberg (NOR) 58pts
5. Victory 7 – A Al Sayed (UAE)/N Hendi (UAE) – 53pts
6. Qatar 95 – A Al Sulaiti (QAT)/L Nicolini (ITA) – 41pts
7. Spirit of Norway 20 – T Barry-Cotter (AUS)/P Nilsen (NOR) – 21pts
8. Foresti & Suardi 8 – M Pennesi (ITA)/G Montavoci (ITA) – 20pts
9. Negotiator 50 – B Eker (NOR)/C Parsonage (GB) – 19pts
10. SeveneleveN 18 – T Polli (ITA)/N Giorgi (ITA) – 7pts
11. Fainplast 2 – K Selmer (NOR)/G Carpitella (ITA) – 4pts

[Rupert Munro]

Saturdays Results:

MINA SEYAHI GRAND PRIX - results
1. Spirit of Norway 10 – B Gjelsten (NOR)/S Curtis (GB)
2. Qatar 95 – A Al Sulaiti (QAT)/L Nicolini (ITA) + 00.08,26
3. Negotiator 50 – B Eker (NOR)/C Parsonage (GB) + 00.34,86
4. Victory 77 – A Al Zafeen (UAE)/JM Sanchez (FR) + 01.38,78
5. Victory 7 – T Al Sayed (UAE)/N B Hendi (UAE) + 2.17,56
6. Spirit of Norway 20 – T Barry-Cotter (AUS)/P Nilsen (NOR) + 1 lap
7. Foresti & Suardi 8 – M Pennesi (ITA)/G Montavoci (ITA) + 1 lap
8. Fainplast 2 – K Selmer (NOR)/G Carpitella (ITA) + 3 laps
9. Qatar 96 – H Al Thani (QAT)/M Nicolini (ITA) + 4 laps
10. SeveneleveN 18 – T Polli (ITA)/N Giorgi (ITA) + 4 laps
Jotun 90 – C Zaborowski (NOR)/J Tandberg (NOR) dnf

WPPA CLASS 1 WORLD POWERBOAT CHAMPIONSHIP – after round 7 of 8
1. Victory 77 – A Al Zafeen (UAE)/JM Sanchez (FR) – 127pts
2= Qatar 96 – H Al Thani (QAT)/M Nicolini (ITA) – 96pts
2= Spirit of Norway 10 – B Gjelsten (NOR)/S Curtis (GB) – 96pts
4. Qatar 95 – A Al Sulaiti (QAT)/L Nicolini (ITA) – 64pts
5. Victory 7 – T Al Sayed (UAE)/N B Hendi (UAE) – 62pts
6. Negotiator 50 – B Eker (NOR)/C Parsonage (GB) – 49pts
7. Foresti & Suardi 8 – M Pennesi (ITA)/G Montavoci (ITA) – 39pts
8. Spirit of Norway 20 – T Barry-Cotter (AUS)/P Nilsen (NOR) – 34pts
9. SeveneleveN 18 – T Polli (ITA)/N Giorgi (ITA) – 17pts
10. Jotun 90 – C Zaborowski (NOR)/J Tandberg (NOR) - 14pts
11. Fainplast 2 – K Selmer (NOR)/G Carpitella (ITA) – 8pts

WPPA CLASS 1 MIDDLE EAST CHAMPIONSHIP – after round 3 of 4
1. Spirit of Norway 10 – B Gjelsten (NOR)/S Curtis (GB) – 43pts
2. Victory 77 – A Al Zafeen (UAE)/JM Sanchez (FR) – 41pts
3. Negotiator 50 – B Eker (NOR)/C Parsonage (GB) – 33pts
4. Qatar 96 – H Al Thani (QAT)/M Nicolini (ITA) – 32pts
5. Qatar 95 – A Al Sulaiti (QAT)/L Nicolini (ITA) – 24pts
6. Foresti & Suardi 8 – M Pennesi (ITA)/G Montavoci (ITA) – 15pts
7. Victory 7 – T Al Sayed (UAE)/N B Hendi (UAE) – 14pts
8. Spirit of Norway 20 – T Barry-Cotter (AUS)/P Nilsen (NOR) – 10pts
9. Jotun 90 – C Zaborowski (NOR)/J Tandberg (NOR) - 5pts
10. Fainplast 2 – K Selmer (NOR)/G Carpitella (ITA) – 3pts
11. SeveneleveN 18 – T Polli (ITA)/N Giorgi (ITA) – 1pts

[Rupert Munro]

C1 Website Write-up:

SPIRIT OF NORWAY TAKES WIN – VICTORY 77 CLINCH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

Saturday, 1 December, DUBAI (UAE): Spirit of Norway’s Bjorn Gjelsten and Steve Curtis took their third win of the season in today’s drama-filled Mina Seyahi Grand Prix, but it was Arif Saif Al Zafeen and Jean Marc-Sanchez, who, despite receiving a penalty long-lap for a jump start, grabbed the glory and the headlines, bringing Victory 77 home in fourth place to clinch the 2007 WPPA Class 1 World Powerboat Championship.

Abdullah Al-Sulaiti and Luca Nicolini produced their best result of the season finishing second in Qatar 95, some consolation for the team after Qatar 96 saw their title challenge end on lap 12 when mechanical problems reduced them to a crawl, with Sheikh Hassan and Matteo Nicolini eventually finishing down in ninth place. And there was more podium success for Negotiator’s Chris Parsonage and Bard Eker, finishing third for the second time in as many races.

But not for the first time this season, there was drama right from the start, resulting in penalty long laps being issued to Victory 7 and 77 later in the race. Victory 77 made a spectacular start moving from sixth place on the start line to lead by over seven seconds at the end of lap one, from Negotiator who made moved up from fifth, with the pole sitters Spirit of Norway down to third place. Victory 7 also made up places moving into fourth ahead of both Qatar boats, with Jotun the biggest loser on the opening lap, dropping from second down to eighth place.

Victory 77 stayed out front for the next six laps as the chasing pack exchanged long-laps and positions. On lap 8, Qatar 95 hit the front, only to concede to Spirit of Norway two laps later, with Victory 77 now third, ahead of Qatar 96 and Negotiator. By lap 13 Negotiator was up to third, with Victory paying the price of the penalty lap and down to fourth. The front runners would hold station for the remainder of the race, with Spirit of Norway taking the win and the lead in the Middle East Championship.

Behind the front runners Victory 7 and Spirit of Norway fought over the remaining top six positions, with Victory 7 grabbing the advantage on lap 15. Behind them Foresti&Suardi was battling with steering problems, but came in, in seventh ahead of Fainplast and an ailing Qatar 96 and SeveneleveN. Jotun’s disappointment continued, retiring on lap 7.
With the world title decided, the focus now switches to the Middle East Championship and the final race of the season in Dubai next week. Spirit of Norway’s win puts them two points ahead of Victory 77, with Negotiator now in third place, one point ahead of Qatar 96.

[shifter]

Congratulations to Jean Marc and Alif Saif and the rest of Victoryteam on the 2007 World Championship!

pat W

[Rupert Munro]

From C1:

CHAMPION PRAISES ALL THE TEAM

Sunday, 2 December, DUBAI (UAE): After becoming the first Frenchman to win the coveted Class 1 World title, Jean-Marc Sanchez was quick to heap praise on his ‘rookie’ driver, Arif Saif Al Zafeen, and the team behind their success. “What can I say about Arif? - he is a natural talent, he learnt very quickly and without doubt Victory has a bright future with him - believe me.

“OK - in the race we are the two guys in the boat, but you have to look at all the guys involved in putting us in this position – the guys in the fibre glass shop who build such a fantastic boat, the engine builders and our crew who have worked hard all year to give us a boat that has got us to the end result without any problems when it mattered. It is the full package that has won this title – this year everything has worked perfectly. There has been a lot of pressure to bring the title back to Dubai – well the team has delivered.”

With the World and European Championships already ‘in the bag’ Sanchez and Al Zafeen can now go for the hat-trick by winning the Class 1 Middle East Championship in the last race of the season, the Dubai Grand Prix. But to do so they first have to beat Spirit of Norway – who are two points ahead of them – and probably still smarting at having their World and European titles taken from them!!

[Ben Mazur]

Some pics by Bastiani and Palfrader

http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p54/reeferracing/1.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p54/reeferracing/2.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p54/reeferracing/3.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p54/reeferracing/4.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p54/reeferracing/5.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p54/reeferracing/6.jpg

[Ben Mazur]

...

http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p54/reeferracing/7.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p54/reeferracing/8.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p54/reeferracing/9.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p54/reeferracing/10.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p54/reeferracing/11jpg.jpg

[Pete454]

More pics taken BY Ben Hedrick,

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc227/benhedrick/Dubai2160.jpg

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc227/benhedrick/Dubai2159.jpg

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc227/benhedrick/Dubai2157.jpg

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc227/benhedrick/Dubai2151.jpg

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc227/benhedrick/Dubai2146.jpg

[Pete454]

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc227/benhedrick/Dubai2145.jpg

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc227/benhedrick/Dubai2139.jpg

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc227/benhedrick/Dubai2138.jpg

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc227/benhedrick/Dubai2136.jpg

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc227/benhedrick/Dubai2135.jpg

[Pete454]

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc227/benhedrick/Dubai2134.jpg

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc227/benhedrick/Dubai2133.jpg

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc227/benhedrick/Dubai2130.jpg

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc227/benhedrick/Dubai2129.jpg

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc227/benhedrick/Dubai2109.jpg

[Pete454]

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc227/benhedrick/Dubai2104.jpg

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc227/benhedrick/Dubai2103.jpg

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc227/benhedrick/Dubai2100.jpg

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc227/benhedrick/Dubai2098.jpg

[Pete454]

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc227/benhedrick/Dubai2097.jpg

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc227/benhedrick/Dubai2096.jpg

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc227/benhedrick/Dubai2094.jpg

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc227/benhedrick/Dubai2091.jpg

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc227/benhedrick/Dubai2088.jpg

[Pete454]

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc227/benhedrick/Dubai2087.jpg

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc227/benhedrick/Dubai2086.jpg

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc227/benhedrick/Dubai2083.jpg

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc227/benhedrick/Dubai2082.jpg

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc227/benhedrick/Dubai2081.jpg

[Pete454]

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc227/benhedrick/Dubai2080.jpg

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc227/benhedrick/Dubai2078.jpg

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc227/benhedrick/Dubai2072.jpg

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc227/benhedrick/Dubai2071.jpg

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc227/benhedrick/Dubai2070.jpg

[Pete454]

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc227/benhedrick/Dubai2063.jpg

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc227/benhedrick/Dubai2058.jpg

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc227/benhedrick/Dubai2044.jpg

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc227/benhedrick/Dubai2043.jpg

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc227/benhedrick/Dubai2035.jpg

[Pete454]

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc227/benhedrick/Dubai2012.jpg

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc227/benhedrick/Dubai2011.jpg

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc227/benhedrick/Dubai2010.jpg

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc227/benhedrick/Dubai2003.jpg

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc227/benhedrick/Dubai1078.jpg

[Pete454]

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc227/benhedrick/Dubai1072.jpg

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc227/benhedrick/Dubai1070.jpg

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc227/benhedrick/Dubai1069.jpg

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc227/benhedrick/Dubai1053.jpg

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc227/benhedrick/Dubai1053.jpg

[Pete454]

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc227/benhedrick/Dubai1005.jpg

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc227/benhedrick/Dubai-GB130.jpg

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc227/benhedrick/Dubai-GB129.jpg

[Ben Mazur]

A small snippet of video

http://youtube.com/watch?v=GwiYtXYoCqE

[shifter]

06/12/2007

QATAR 96 QUICKEST IN FIRST PRACTICE

Thursday, 6 December, DUBAI (UAE): Sheikh Hassan and Matteo Nicolini were the early pace setters for Saturday’s Dubai Grand, the final round of the 2007 WPPA Class 1 World Powerboat Championship, setting the fastest time of 2m 37.34s around the 4.4Nm circuit in today’s official practice. "We used a new set of propellers today and this for sure made an improvement in terms of performance," said Matteo Nicolini. "This was a good session for the team – for us to go quicker than Spirit and for Abdullah and Luca to be up there to. On this course where the top speed is not as fast as some of the circuits we have raced – the V8 can be very competitive."

Qatar 96’s rivals for the runners-up spot in the world championship and for the Class 1 Middle East title, Spirit of Norway, were second quickest with Qatar 95 the best of the V8 outfits in third ahead of Negotiator, who broke an engine, and Jotun, who were lucky not to hit the breakwater inside Palm Island after a spin out.

Victory 77’s practice session was hindered by a technical problem, with Al Zafeen and Sanchez completing only one timed lap and finishing down in seventh place behind their team-mates. Giampaolo Montavoci and Marco Pennesi struggled throughout the session with steering problems that cost them valuable time in the turns inside the Palm, with Foresti & Suardi recording the eighth quickest time in front of Spirit of Norway 20.

In tomorrow’s Edox Pole Position, Bjorn Gjelsten and Steve Curtis will bid to become the first pairing to be unbeaten in qualifying in a season by making it seven wins out of seven.

Official Practice:
1. Qatar 96 – H Al Thani (QAT)/M Nicolini (ITA) – 2m 37.34s
2. Spirit of Norway 10 – B Gjelsten (NOR)/S Curtis (GB) – 2m 37.65s
3. Qatar 95 – A Al Sulaiti (QAT)/L Nicolini (ITA) – 2m 38.26s
4. Negotiator 50 – B Eker (NOR)/C Parsonage (GB) – 2m 39.01s
5. Jotun 90 – C Zaborowski (NOR)/J Tandberg (NOR) – 2m39.15s
6. Victory 7 – T Al Sayed (UAE)/N Hendi (UAE) – 2m 39.23s
7. Victory 77 – A Al Zafeen(UAE)/JM Sanchez (FR) – 2m 45.12ss
8. Foresti & Suardi 8 – M Pennesi (ITA)/G Montavoci (ITA) – 2m 46.75s
9. Spirit of Norway 20 – T Barry-Cotter (AUS)/P Nilsen (NOR) – 2m 47.65s
10. Fainplast 2 – K Selmer (NOR)/M Esperto (ITA) – dns
11. SeveneleveN 18 – T Polli (ITA)/N Giorgi (ITA) – dns


More news from today.
pat W

[Rupert Munro]

wow, 0.3s seperating Quatar 96 and Spirit! Looks like qualifying should be interesting.

[Rupert Munro]

Just had a thought - should this thread not be under WPPA not UIM International classes :D

[Cookee]

Just had a thought - should this thread not be under WPPA not UIM International classes :D

Which are the Class III boats racing under - UIM or WPPA?

[Rupert Munro]

Which are the Class III boats racing under - UIM or WPPA?

WPPA