News from Class 1

[Ben Mazur]

Apparently, Bjorn Gjelsten has retired and put both Spirit boats up for sale. Sheikh Hassan (Qatar 96) has bought the multi-championship winning no. 10 boat as well as the services of Steve Curtis for next year.

Provisional calendar for 2008
March 1: Qatar
April 25: Brazil
May 25: Montenegro
July 20: Arendal (Norway)
August 17: Oslo (Norway)
August 31: Romania
October 18: Egypt
November 29: Dubai
December 6: Dubai

[Ben Mazur]

From Ray Bulman

Bjorn Gjelsten retires

The announcement in Dubai that five-time Class 1 World Powerboat Champion, Bjorn Gjelsten, is to step down brings to an end a glittering career during which he dominated the sport. It also brings to an end his remarkable partnership with Britain's Steve Curtis, who he raced alongside, winning 34 Grand Prix from 82 starts in a racing career spanning ten years.

"I feel that this is the right time for me to retire and there are many reasons which have influenced my decision," said Bjorn Gjelsten. "It is a question of priorities and about the commitment and the time that the sport demands as well as the physical and mental demands needed to remain at the top of your game.

"I am very proud of my team, Spirit of Norway, and what we have achieved together over the years. We have had tremendous success and set many records which I believe will be hard to beat. To achieve what we have has taken tremendous commitment and has required us to be focussed and professional at all times."

Gjelsten started his racing career in the USA in 1994, teaming-up with Steve Curtis in 1996 to form what was to become the greatest driver-throttleman partnership in the sport's history. He took his first win in Class 1 in 1997 in Dubai and went on to win the World and European Championships the following year. From 2002, Gjelsten and Curtis were the dominant force in Class 1, and Gjelsten established himself as unquestionably the number one driver in the world, setting a string of records in the process. Gjelsten and Curtis are the only pairing to have win three consecutive world titles, four consecutive Pole Position titles, take the most number of race wins and win all rounds of a Pole Position Championship in a season.

Bjorn Gjelsten took a year's sabbatical from racing in 2005 but came back in 2006 to complete the grand-slam of World, European, Middle East and Pole Position Championships for the second time - a feat only ever achieved by Spirit of Norway. His tally of titles reads like a who's who of racing, taking five World, four European, four Middle East and six Pole Position Championships

Bjorn Gjelsten will be remembered for rising to the challenges he faced, for setting new standards and raising the bar to a level of intensity and professionalism that will be hard to match. And it is fitting that he ended his Class 1 career as he started it - winning in Dubai - 82 races and 34 Grand Prix wins later.


Motor Boat and Yachting , Ray Bulman Motor Boat and Yachting, 13 December 2007

[Dr Speed]

Brazil is a quick hop from S.FL.

Definetly going to get to one of the races next year.
Sad to see the Spirit of Norway team go away. Hopefully another billionaire (calling Dave Callan) will fill his shoes.

[H2O-Full Throttle]

I heard another racer from Florida and his builder might be taking his new boat to be part of Class 1. Time to settle some old scores I heard. :rolleyes:

Cant give away anything but for those that are wondering, it aint Haggin.

:D

[Boatless]

Boat racer in FL, as you wrote it had raced in Class 1 previously with no success. (otherwise there would be no score to settle)

Mr. Tomlinson is out as he won the championship in his rookie year.

Mr. Fuller never raced there, along with 99.9% of all Floridians.

Gary Ballough? Doug Wright does not build a boat big enough. No Class 1 experience.

The MTI hull is not working either so that builder is out.

Callan hull, need more of them out there to prove themselves.

Skater?

Racer? A Cuban?

[H2O-Full Throttle]

Boatless - Didnt say boat racer from FL had raced there before, said maybe his offsider might have :) :)

Its not JT

Not Hugh

Not Gary.

Who said new MTI wont work there ;)

Not Callan.

Not Skater.

No both of them are not Cubans :) :)

[Boatless]

Unfinished business implies been there tried that, not happy with the results.:D

Do you think the MTI is working now? Look at Jotun. Even with Mr. Scism in the boat it has not shined. Gotta give them cudos for trying with it for so long though.

Also, Skater kind of handed them their A.. this year something terrible.

So that leaves a very limited pool to search from for a boat manufacturer. Equally as small is someone that can afford the venture.:D

[Ben Mazur]

From Class 1

16/12/2007

SHEIKH HASSAN BUYS SPIRIT OF NORWAY FROM BJORN GJELSTEN TO CREATE CLASS 1 DREAM-TEAM

Saturday, 15 December: Sheikh Hassan Bin Jabor Al-Thani, Qatar Team Principal and driver of Qatar 96, has upped the stakes in his bid to land the WPPA Class 1 World Powerboat Championship, confirming that he has bought Spirit of Norway 10 from Bjorn Gjelsten in a mega-deal that includes the services of eight-times World Champion, Steve Curtis, and the entire administrative and technical crew behind the multi-championship winning, Spirit of Norway Team. “The Qatar team is one of the strongest out on the water today and by adding skilled and talented personnel to the existing package we will add value to the team and will make it more than a handful for our competitors,” said Sheikh Hassan, adding. “Indeed, having Steve is by itself an added value. With him onboard along with Matteo we have the best two throttlemen in the sport in the Qatar Team stable.”

Gjelsten’s decision to put the team up for sale follows his recent retirement, with the emphasis that boat and personnel come as a complete package. “There has been a lot of interest in the boat, but my number one priority was to ensure that my whole team was looked after and included in the deal, if they wanted to be,” confirmed Gjelsten. “What was important to me was to sell to someone who I believe is dedicated and capable of taking the team forward as a winning unit, and Sheikh Hassan not only has the dedication but the resources as well. He is buying a very competitive package and it is important to keep the continuity and hopefully the winning formula that we have built up over ten years.”

Sheikh Hassan is remaining tight-lipped and keeping his rivals guessing regarding the driver line-up for 2008, but there is a strong probability that he will drive alongside Steve Curtis in Qatar 96, the ex Spirit of Norway 10, with Matteo Nicolini and Abdullah Al-Sulaiti running 96 as Qatar 95.

[Boatless]

Bob Bull with a modified MTI ?? :confused:

[Andree]

The Jotun hull is a diffrent story. The hull was cut and laminated together again. After that the hull won around 300 kg so this baby is alttle bit heavy. I think a newly built MTI would be competitive as it is the same design as the Victory boats Randy race in his UAE time.

[Ben Mazur]

WPPA CLASS 1 WORLD POWERBOAT CHAMPIONSHIP

24/01/2008
NEW VENUES, NEW TEAMS AND LINE-UPS ANNOUNCED AS DOHA PREPARES TO KICK-START 2008

Thursday, 24 January, DUSSELDORF (Germany): The 2008 WPPA Class 1 World Powerboat Championship looks set for an enthralling season, with the International Offshore Team Association announcing a ten-race calendar and ten-boat entry, including new teams and driver line-ups.

The Montenegrin City of Budva joins Doha, Arendal, Constanta, Porto Sokhna and Dubai as confirmed venues for 2008, and heads the list of new venues and countries lining up to host a round of the world’s leading powerboat championship, with races in Spain, the Ukraine and Bahrain expected to be confirmed in the coming weeks. Egypt will host its second Class 1 Grand Prix, but the venue moves from the northern Mediterranean coast to the spectacular Red Sea resort of Porto Sokhna.

Ten boats will line up for the season opener in Doha, Qatar on Saturday, 1 March with several significant changes in driver-throttleman partnerships announced at yesterday’s press conference at the Dusseldorf Boat Show. Victory Team Manager, Gianfranco Venturelli, confirmed that the 2007 Class 1 World and European Champions, Arif Saif Al Zafeen and Jean-Marc Sanchez will line up in different boats, but that the new pairings will not be revealed until just before the first race.

Qatar Team Principal, Sheikh Hassan Bin Jabor Al-Thani, revealed that he will line up alongside eight-times World Champion, Steve Curtis, in Qatar 96 with Matteo Nicolini partnering Abdullah Al-Sulaiti in Qatar 95. Nicolini confirmed that both boats will run the Skema V12 powerplants.

Giampaolo Montavoci has confirmed Norwegian, Kolbjorn Selmer as his new wheelman in Foresti & Suardi and Ugland Offshore Racing confirmed that throttleman Jorn Tandberg will be joined in the cockpit by Class 1 newcomer, Inge Brigt Aarbakke and Bjorge Jacobsen who will share driving duties. Nicola Giorgi is yet to announce who will partner him in 2008 but did confirm that the team have replaced their Cougar with a Michael Peters designed-Victory hull. Team One will make their Class 1 debut in 2008 but has yet to confirm their driver partnership; one name being mentioned is Frenchman, Jerome Brarda. A second new Team will be headed by Domenico Cirilli.

The only outfit to field an unchanged line-up in 2008 is Negotiator, with Chris Parsonage and Bard Eker staying with the Sterling V8s and looking to build on their impressive second half season-showing and double podium success last season.

2008 CALENDAR

1 March - QATAR, Doha
25 May – MONTENEGRO, Budva
15 or 22 June – SPAIN, Andalucia (reserve date)
20 July – NORWAY, Arendal
17 August – UKRAINE, Yalta (reserve date)
31 August – ROMANIA, Constanta-Mamaia
18 October – EGYPT, Porto Sokhna
7 November – BAHRAIN (reserve date)
29 November – UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, Dubai
6 December - UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, Dubai

[Throttle Up Propellers]

Bob Bull with a modified MTI ?? :confused:

Things that make you go hmmmmm.....

Julie

[ciao]

I love these "(reserve date)" - doesn't help me with my flight bookings!

[Ryan Beckley]

What happened to Brazil?

[Ben Mazur]

Looking more and more like a European and Middle Eastern Championship to me. Much as it has been over the past number of years.