The long journey for a new U.I.M. F1 World Champion has finally come to an end, as Jay Price from New Orleans, Louisiana and the Qatar Team has become the third different driver from America to win the top rung in powerboat racing capturing the title with a win at the 16th Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi in front of thousands of race fans along the cornice.

With the first GP of the season in Portimao, Portugal fast approaching, F1 fans will witness dramatic new changes to the race format which includes two heats to each Grand Prix. The winner of each event will be the pilot with the highest total points. Who will those drivers be?

Starting with the reigning world champion Jay Price, nothing has changed in the Qatar team line-up as Price still has Yousef Al Khulaifi alongside him. The ‘Mad Croc’ team features three drivers, heat leader Sami Selio, Massimo Roggiero and ex.Rainbow rookie Daniel Martignoni.

The Finnish city of Lahti proved the perfect host as VIP’s, promoters, media and drivers enjoyed a three day feast of events as Idea Marketing staged their annual pre-season gathering.

The programme opening with a drinks party at the top of Lahti’s highest ski-jump and guests were treated to spectacular views over the snow clad city. It was then onto a restaurant that boasted a menu made up of locally produced products including the beer. The following morning was ‘activity day’ as the group boarded a coach and headed for the snowy wastes of a nearby forest where a row of snowmobiles were lined up.

The 11th Annual Grand Prix of Portugal on the fourth and fifth of April marks an historic “first” on the U.I.M. F1 World Championship for power boating Tour as over 20 drivers from 14 different countries take to the opening round of the 2009 campaign on the Arade River along the lovely Algarve South coast. The weekend will introduce for the first time in the history of the sport two races featuring a Grand Prix on both Saturday as well as Sunday with 20 points up for the taking for the winner of each race.

“We are really excited about this opportunity to run two Grand Prix events in one weekend,” said series Promoter Nicolo di San Germano. “The race fans at each event this season will get ‘double the excitement’ more than a year ago and the drivers will get two chances to prove how talented they are in front of an international television audience and the tens of thousands of race fans that attend each of our events throughout the season.”

It’s only happened once, but already the new two race event format has brought a lot of opinions along with a lot of excitement for race fans and teams who now get to see two Grand Prix’s in one weekend instead of usual one as the U.I.M. F1 World Championship for power boating turns a new page in history in its 16 race schedule for the 2009 campaign. What do the teams think of the new racing format?

“Its been great not only for our team, but for the spectators as well,” stated the Manager for Team Abu Dhabi and four-time World Champion Scott Gillman. “Obviously we are pleased since each of our two drivers (Ahmad Al Hameli and Thani Al Qamzi) won a race at the Grand Prix of Portugal and I think it will take a mixture of time and education to have the race spectators understand that the first day of competition is as important as the 2nd day which was our traditional Grand Prix time.

Team Abu Dhabi driver Thani Al Qamzi watched his teammate for over 20 minutes dominate the 2nd Round of the 2009 U.I.M. F1 World Championship race at the Grand Prix of Portugal only to take the lead when Ahmad Al Hameli parked his boat with a seven second lead giving his close friend his 5th career victory.

« I was totally happy with the way my boat performed today, » said Thani. « We bided our time and it paid off for us and it’s great to get back in the victory column so quickly since Sharjah of last season. We were leading at the Grand Prix of Russia and want to finish the job this time around for sure in June. »

Defending World Champion Jay Price snapped out of his two race slump and powered his way to a 7.81 second victory at the fourth round of the 2009 U.I.M. F1 H2O World Championship for power boating in front of a massive crowd in downtown Lahti, for the 5th Grand Prix of Finland.

The warm and sunny afternoon was hi-lited by tremendous two boat battle between the two Team Abu Dhabi boats driven by pole sitting Ahmad Al Hameli who held first for the first 21 minutes of the scheduled 30 minute event, before the Qatar Team driver made a remarkable pass down in turn number five and never was challenged to take his first race of the season and the fourth of his career 26 starts.

Sami Selio showed off his speed and his cool driving talents as he was pushed to the limit by defending World Champion Jay Price of the Qatar Team who did everything he could to win for the first time in five races, but, it was the Helsinki, Finland driver who came away with the 20 points and moved closer to the top of the drivers championship table with his second victory in the last four starts here at the 11th Grand Prix of China.

The lead driver of the Mad Croc sponsored boat who now has 83 points on the season sitting third in the championship, switched hulls and drove teammates Massimo Roggierio's boat instead of his own damaged hull for the first time.

7 times National F1 Powerboat Champion Craig Bailey has been taken to Bundaberg hospital with suspected spinal injuries after an accident in race 3 of the annual Bundy Thunder Powerboat Classic in Bundaberg, Australia.

The 47 yr old, just back from China competing for Team Qatar on the World F1 Circuit, was competing in the national F1 class when a gust of wind lifted the boat into the air, it then did a 360 degree flip coming down hard and severely damaging the boat.

Bailey was able to free himself from the cockpit, he is held in by a 5 point harness similar to a racing car, and swim to the surface where rescue divers took him to an ambulance on shore. 

The posturing of the 2009 U.I.M. F1 H2O World Championship for power boating is about over and now its “put up or shut up” time for both the Qatar Team and Team Abu Dhabi  organizations with two of their four drivers squarely in the mix for the world title.

For the home standing Qatar effort, the team based just ten minutes away from this weekend's race site along the Arabian Gulf in the headquarters of the Qatar Marine Sports Federation (QMSF) offices, there is a much unwanted pressure put on the organization with the delay of their race boats and elaborate race tent facilities for this weekend's 6th Grand Prix of Qatar along the cornice in downtown Doha for this Friday's and Saturday's Grand Prix events.

Success comes in many forms and for one race team in the 2009 U.I.M. F1 H2O World Championship for power boating has proven to be a win-win format from day one.

Swedish driver Jonas Andersson, a legendary driver from Scandinavia who has worked hard to bring himself up to the top level of all powerboat racing, has joined forces with the exotic and oil rich country of Azerbaijan to combine a strong presence in F1 this season with Andersson currently third in the drivers championship with 99 points on the strength of victories in St. Petersburg, Russia and Liuzhou, China.

Defending World Champion Jay Price of the Qatar Team scored his third victory of the season and his sixth of his career and moved himself back into the 2009 U.I.M. F1 H2O World Championship picture with his 12.68 second victory at the 17th Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates in front of tens of thousands of race fans along the corneiche in front of downtown Abu Dhabi.

The American flew off at the start and moved past Finnish driver Sami Selio of the Mad Croc sponsored boat that had just set a new record of seven pole positions in one season, but as Selio was dropping back into third place with Guido Cappellini moving from third into second and charging.

With just one day away from the start of the 10th Grand Prix of China in Liuzhou, two different drivers are pushing hard to keep their streaks alive as the 2009 U.I.M. F1 H2O World Championship reaches its half-way mark of the current campaign.

Defending race and World Champion Jay Price of the Qatar Team rolls into town having won the last two races he's started by capturing victory at the second event at the Grand Prix of Finland back in June and the first event at the August event at the Grand Prix of Russia in St. Petersburg.

The driver from America held a brief  one day lead in the drivers championship until an unfortunate wiring failure in his boat kept him from participating in the second Grand Prix on the Neva River giving back the championship lead to rival Thani Al Qamzi of Team Abu Dhabi who now has a 65 to 55 point lead on Price coming to Liuzhou.

Ahmad Al Hameli fought the rough water conditions on the one mile (1.62 kilometer) four pin course in front of tens of thousands of race fans in downtown Bay City, Michigan for the 22nd Annual Bay City River Roar on the Saginaw River on Sunday afternoon.

The driver from Team Abu Dhabi on the U.I.M. F1 H2O World Championship tour came to America to race with teammate Thani Al Qamzi in hopes of helping develop the OMC Johnson engine that has been developed with the help of engine wizard Ron Anderson and Greg Jacobsen of Seattle, Washington.

One of the hardest working drivers on the U.I.M. F1 H2O World Championship tour when it comes to promoting his race team is Fabian Kalsow who again in front of thousands of fans recently put on a two day show in his hometown of Neustadt in Germany.

The 27 year-old had one of the biggest two seater events in the history of the sport when he attracted thousands of spectators to the Seventh “Formula 1 Powerboat Promotion Event” in Germany this year. It was a long two days for the one time German S550 champion but very worthwhile at the same time as he put in over 150 laps in his specially modified two seat Molgaard F1 boat used for promotional events.

Three drivers who failed to finish twenty-four hours ago were the hero's today at the 6th round of the 2009 U.I.M. F1 H2O World Championship for power boating with Jonas Andersson coming from third off the grid to grab the lead for good on the very first lap to win for the first time in over a year and pick up 20 valuable championship points at the Eighth Grand Prix of Russia in St. Petersburg.

The Team Azerbaijan driver from Sweden held off the field for 35 laps and three restarts and now slides into third position with 52 after winning for the third time in his career and his second on the Neva River.

In what can be described as one of the most spell binding Grand Prix's in the history of the sport, the 12th round of the U.I.M. F1 H2O World Championship for power boating became a three boat battle to the winners circle from start to finish of the 30 minute 35 lap event in Doha Bay in downtown Doha, Qatar for the 6th Grand Prix of Qatar.

When the “war on the water” was finally finished, it was Italian Guido Cappellini driving the Zepter sponsored boat taking a 0.92 second victory to move within three points of Team Abu Dhabi driver Thani Al Qamzi who came home in fourth position earning just enough to stay ahead in the drivers table with 112 points with four races still to be run for the drivers championship.

It’s a circuit that has crept into the psyche of drivers from all over the world. Over the years the race course has morphed itself into the planets biggest challenges and has become a complex puzzle to get right.

So, as drivers from four different continents head to Doha and the Sixth Grand Prix of Qatar for the 11th and 12th rounds of the 2009 U.I.M. F1 H2O World Championship, they know this five turn 1.99 kilometer (1.23 mile) race course will be one of the biggest hurtles they’ll have to conquer in order to win a world title at seasons end.

It took him over twenty-five years to find his place in racing history, but Jay Price kept his dreams alive while his determination to make it to the top level of the sport paid off after only 21 career race starts.

The New Orleans, Louisiana veteran led his Qatar Team to their first ever World title winning the U.I.M. F1 World Championship Series for power boating scoring 105 points and capturing the title by a 36 point margin. Jay becomes the third different American driver to secure the title in the 28 years since the championship began back in 1981.