Saturday, 25 October, PORTO MARINA (Egypt): Championship leaders, Victory 1, took a giant step towards retaining the team’s World title after leading home a dream one-two finish in today’s Egyptian Grand Prix after seeing all three of their main title rivals falter, with Negotiator capping an impressive return to top-flight racing, finishing third.

Saturday, 25 October, PORTO MARINA (Egypt): With rough conditions anticipated for this afternoon’s Egyptian Grand Prix, race officials have announced a shortened rough-water course. "At the moment there is not as much wind, but the sea conditions are still severe and conditions are very changeable, as we have already seen." said race director, Rory Power.

Victory 1’s Mohammed Al Marri and Nadir Bin Hindi received a standing ovation from guests and teams at a glittering Gala Dinner at the Dubai International Marine Club in Dubai, as the 2008 World, Middle East and Pole Position Champions held aloft the Sam Griffith Memorial Trophy.

Despite winning the SBIP-APBA Offshore World Championship in Key West, Florida earlier this month, Steve Curtis is yet to win in Class 1 this season, and failure in either of the remaining races and the Edox Pole Position in Dubai, will see Curtis winless and without a title for the first time in over a decade.  A statistic he would rather be without!

Chris Parsonage has confirmed that he will run the final two races of the season in Dubai, with American throttleman, Billy Moore, retained to take the sticks in Negotiator following the Anglo-American pairings impressive third place in their first outing together in the Egyptian Grand Prix in Porto Marina in October.

Dubai’s Victory Team celebrated their eighth World Championship success in sixteen years, after Victory 1’s Mohammed Al Marri and Nadir Bin Hendi led home their team-mates, Abdullah Al Mehairbi and Jean-Marc Sanchez, to complete the team’s third one-two finish of the season in today’s Mina Seyahi Grand Prix, with Nicola Giorgi and Giorgio Manuzzi producing an outstanding performance to celebrate their first Class 1 podium, bringing SeveneleveN home in third place.

Following his resignation as President of the World Professional Powerboating Association (WPPA) last December, Saeed Hareb is back at the helm. 

“After considering all the options before me, I have decided to return as the WPPA President and ensure there are changes in the functioning so that we are more effective with our presence on the local and international stage,” said Hareb. 

“We have a fantastic and thoroughly professional team with us in the WPPA and we are convinced I need to be here once again leading this group of professionals.”

Duemme Offshore team boss, Domenico Cirilli, has revealed that his ‘new-look’ team for 2009 - owned by Duemme Yacht Brokers Spain S.L and based out of Torrevieja - will make its first appearance of the season at the Spanish Grand Prix in Alicante, 5-7 June.

Cirilli confirmed that he will throttle the Lamborghini-SKEMA V12-powered, Victory-built hull and that he will announce his new Spanish driver in the coming weeks.

The news of the second confirmed Spanish team is a boost for Morten Eckhoff, the organiser of this year’s Spanish Grand Prix, which sees the Class 1 World Powerboat Championship returning to Spain for the sixth time in 16 years, and to Alicante for a second time.

Norwegian’s Jorn Tandberg and Christian Zaborowski will reform their successful racing partnership in Doha, Qatar on 25 April.

Tandberg, the defending Class 1 European Champion, confirmed the team’s revised driver-throttleman combination for the opening race of the season, and announced that Ugland Offshore Racing’s distinctive, scarlet, Class 1-Mercury, V8-powered raceboat will run under the colours of Norwegian company, Welmax AS, the countries largest supplier of mechanised welding production equipment, whose core business is focussed on servicing the international offshore oil business.

IOTA has renewed its marketing agreement with Marinetek Group, the official supplier of pontoons to the Class 1 World Powerboat Championship, for a further three-year term.  “The renewal of our agreement is of particular significance, since Marinetek was one of the first companies to realise the importance and value of Class 1 as a suitable vehicle for international commercial exploitation,” said IOTA General Secretary, Marco Sala. 

“With this continued association, IOTA is able to maintain a high standard of technical quality and presence at events and to enhance the image of efficiency which characterises the organisation and, at the same time, to support our Local Organising Committees in the best possible way with a product which has been designed especially for the Class 1 event.”

Maritimo Australia took their first tentative steps in the build-up to their 2009 Class 1 campaign, with Peter 'Muddy' McGrath and team newcomer, Giorgio Manuzzi, teaming up for the first time to shake down the team's number two boat, Maritimo 12 in Doha.

“It was good to get out on the water and clearly we still have some work to do,” said McGrath. “I wasn’t that happy with the balance of the boat and we also had some fuel issues that we need to look into.”

It was also the first opportunity for this new pairing to size each other up, and for New Zealander, McGrath, to get back out on Qatar’s Doha Bay circuit, where he took his first Grand Prix win alongside team boss Bill Barry-Cotter in 2002.

Victory for Fazza 3 in the opening round of the UIM/WPPA Class 1 World Powerboat Championship was sealed this afternoon by Arif Al Zafeen and Nadir Bin Hendi. Second place went to home favourites Sheikh Hassan Bin Jabor Al-Thani and Steve Curtis, with Class 1 debutant Mohammad Al Mehairi and Jean-Marc Sanchez claiming third place in a sun-kissed Qatar Marine Festival Grand Prix.

The reunited pairing of Al Zafeen and Bin Hendi powered through to a comfortable victory in the end, but they did not have it all their own way. A fantastic start by Qatar 95 saw the Edox Pole Position winner's storm away with the early lead, but engine troubles forced them to retire on lap nine while leading the race.

Following a successful test with their third ‘new generation’ Class 1 raceboat in Australia last week, throttleman Peter McGrath and a clutch of technicians will head to the team’s European base in Plymouth, England, next week to make the required  modifications to Maritimo 11 and 12.

The team had a frustrating return to full-time racing in Class 1 at the season-opener in Qatar, and were hampered by one or two technical glitches and some handling issues - described by McGrath as ‘like driving a fork lift on ice’ - and which saw him and team newcomer, Giorgio Manuzzi, fail to make the Grand Prix after spinning out in pre-race practice and damaging their boat, and team-mates Tom Barry-Cotter and Pal Nilsen retiring on lap 5. 

Jorn Tandberg will line up with a third different driver in as many races when he starts the defence of his European title at the BMW Norwegian Grand Prix in Arendal, 17-19 July.

Tandberg will be joined in the cockpit of the Mercury V8-powered Welmax by fellow Norwegian, Kolbjorn Selmer, as he bids for a hat-trick of wins in Arendal, taking his first in 2006 with Christian Zaborowski and last year with Inge Brigt Aarbakke, en route to the European title which they snatched from Victory 1 by a point after winning the Romanian Grand Prix.

Maritimo will look to cap an impressive first half of the season with a top three finish in the final round of the European Championship in Stresa.

Tom Barry-Cotter and Pal Nilsen are enjoying their best season since teaming up as the sport’s youngest pairing in Athens in 2007, and consecutive podiums - second in Norway and third in Race 2 in Romania last month - has put them into third spot in both the World and European standings. 

“We have had some luck along the way, sometimes it has gone our way and other times it has gone against us.,” said Barry-Cotter, the 2008/9 Australian Offshore Superboat Champion. 

After an impressive European campaign for Maritimo’s Tom Barry-Cotter and Pal Virik Nilsen, taking third overall behind Victory 1 and Fazza, the Australian-Norwegian pairing head to the Middle East for the final Grands Prix of the season in Abu Dhabi (19-21 November) and Dubai (10-12 December) looking to cap a stellar year by taking their second, but first ‘official’ win, and to defend their current third place in the World Championship standings.

Launching their two-boat assault on the World title in March with a new in-house Maritimo designed-hull and running Maritimo Performance V8s, it has been a roller coaster ride of a season for the Australian outfit. 

Spanish Team, Duemme Broker, has confirmed that Ahmad Al Hameli will make his Class 1 debut in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, 19-21 November.

Hameli, 30, who was born and lives in Abu Dhabi, has competed in wooden powerboat racing, Class 3, 6 litre, the F2000 Presidents Cup and now races for the Abu Dhabi F1 Powerboat Team, will partner the experienced Italian throttleman, Giovanni Carpitella, in the V8 Mercury-powered C.A.M.

Carpitella, who finished fourth in the season-opener in Qatar and fifth in both races in the Italian Grand Prix - his only starts this season - will draw on his vast powerboat experience to guide Al Hameli on his debut in front of the U.A.E National’s home crowd.

Welmax wheelman, Kolbjorn Selmer, knows that he and Jorn Tandberg must produce something extra special in both races in the Italian Grand Prix in Stresa, 2-4 October, if throttleman Tandberg is to retain his European Crown.

After a series of frustrating incidents in the first two races of the season, the all-Norwegian pairing, who teamed up in the BMW Norwegian Grand Prix in Arendal, hit back in Mamaia-Constanta to take third place in qualifying in the Edox Pole Position and two race-podiums – third in race 1 and second in race 2 – to move into fourth place in the World and European Championship standings.

Maximum points from this weekend’s first-ever Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, round five of the UIM-WPPA Class 1 World Powerboat Championship, for Victory 1 or Fazza, would secure a remarkable ninth World title for Dubai’s Victory Team.

However, should either hit major problems, they will leave the door slightly ajar for Maritimo and Welmax, their main title challengers, to reduce the gap at the top of the World Championship standings.

Victory Team has won all six races this season - Victory 1 two and Fazza four - but it is Victory 1 who currently leads the title race from Fazza by just four points, with the experienced Jean-Marc Sanchez once again guiding a Class 1 ‘rookie’ to a title in his first season, winning the European Championship in Stresa alongside Mohammad Al Mehairi. 

Fazza’s Arif Al Zafeen and Nadir Bin Hendi completed the hat-trick by winning race 2 of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, to add to their Pole Position and race wins yesterday.

Their sixth win of the season came after a frenetic start which saw all boats except Maritimo handed a penalty long-lap for jumping the start. For the third race in succession Victory 1 had to settle for second place behind their team-mates, after a tight battle with Welmax who finished third.

Al Zafeen and Bin Hendi, who have now won seven out of nine races since being paired together at the beginning of the 2008 season, did not have the race all their own way and a coming together on the start run with Victory 1 could have ended their race before it had started.

After five Grands Prix and eight races, the fight for the coveted Class 1 World title has come down to the wire and will be decided next weekend, 10 -12 December, in the final two races of the season in the Emirates/Dubai Duty Free Dubai Grand Prix.
 
With the Victory Team having already secured a remarkable ninth Class 1 World title, the only unanswered question is which of the Dubai-based team’s two thoroughbreds will emerge victorious on their home waters and in front of a partisan crowd and lift the trophy - Fazza or Victory 1?

Just eight points separate Fazza and Victory 1 in what has been a titanic struggle for supremacy all season, with the Championship lead changing hands race-by-race.

Giampaolo Montavoci has confirmed he will run an unchanged line-up in Foresti & Suardi-Roscioli Hotels with fellow Italian, Roberto Lo Piano, taking the wheel for only his second Grand Prix.

Currently fifth in the overall Championship standings, Montavoci, who made his Class 1 debut in St Petersburg in 1989, will make his 90th race start in Abu Dhabi (19-21 November).

The Victory Team has been inundated with messages of support and condolence following the tragic loss of pilots Mohammad Al Mehairi and Jean-Marc Sanchez. “We are extremely grateful for the messages we have received from friends both inside and outside the powerboat racing community,” said Victory Team Managing Director, Khalfan Harib.

“However, we would like to request at this time that friends and supporters respect the privacy of both families and the Victory Team. Those wishing to leave a message should make contact through the team website where we will acknowledge their thoughts.

Some spectacular and determined racing and a run of five podiums in four Grands Prix propelled Welmax’s Kolbjorn Selmer and Jorn Tandberg to third place in the overall Class 1 World Championship standings - the team’s best performance in over a decade. 

“We are very happy with the way the season turned out.  After a troubled start in Doha and Arendal we have been on the podium at every race weekend,” said Kolbjorn Selmer.  “And to finish with on the podium in both the World Championship and the Edox Pole Position Championship standings was beyond the expectations we had for this season.

Victory 1’s Mohammad Al Mehairi, in his debut season in Class 1, and Jean-Marc Sanchez were crowned European Champions after finishing second in Race 2 of the Italian Grand Prix, round 4 of the UIM-WPPA Class 1 World Powerboat Championship.

The race win went to team-mates Fazza, who stormed to victory after starting at the back of the fleet, in what was arguably the drive of the season, with Welmax finishing in an impressive third place.

Fazza’s Arif Al Zafeen and Nadir Bin Hendi were determined to win Race 2 today after yesterday’s disappointment. A scintillating start saw them move up to fourth at the first turn and into second place by the end of lap two.

His Highness Sheikh Sultan Bin Khalifah Al Nahyan, has hinted at the possibility of entering a team in the UIM WPPA Class 1 Powerboat World Championship in the near future.

During the successful hosting of the inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last weekend, which saw Abu Dhabi F1 Powerboat pilot, Ahmed Al Hameli, finish on the podium in race 1 on his Class 1 debut in Sea Dubai-C.A.M. alongside Italian Giovanni Carpitella

Canio Di Milia, the Mayor of Stresa, confirmed that plans for the Italian Grand Prix to be held on 4 October were well underway, and stressed that the event was of significant importance to the region.  “I am delighted that powerboat racing is coming home to Italy and to where it was born, Lake Maggiore, which hosted the first powerboat race in 1903. 

“This is not only an event for Stresa but for all of Lake Maggiore. It is the return of the ‘Queen’ of all powerboat racing to Italy,” he said.  “The City of Stresa in the past years has received lots of proposal in order to host powerboat events but we always refused because they never offered us the strategic international exposure we looked for.

Following post-race investigation by WPPA race officials, Fazza's Arif Al Zafeen and Nadir Bin Hendi have been issued with a yellow card for an infringement during the start of last weekend's BMW Norwegian Grand Prix.

Evaluating reports and television footage, WPPA race director Rory Power found that the crew of Fazza left insufficient space or clearance for other boats either in the vicinity or being overtaken, and did in fact drive in a manner not permitted within the rules during the start run area to the first turn, issuing a yellow card and penalty long lap for the infringements.

As teams start to head towards Arendal from their European bases, the organisers of the BMW Norwegian Grand Prix, 17-19 July, are gearing up to deliver a week-long extravaganza of entertainment and powerboat racing.

With the Class 1 Edox Speed Run, three official practice sessions, Edox Pole Position and the new two-race format dominating the on-water activity, the NGP organisers, despite the difficult current financial climate, have pulled out all the stops to provide a raft of activities on-shore.

Giampiero Soave will start just his second Class 1 Grand Prix at next weekend’s BMW Norwegian Grand Prix, 17-19 July, teaming-up with fellow Italian, Giampaolo Montavoci, in Foresti & Suardi - Roscioli Hotels.

Soave, who made his Class 1 debut alongside Montavoci in the Portuguese Grand Prix in Lisbon in 2004, made his racing debut in 1996 in the Italian Class 3, 2litre Championship.  He won the title in 1997, finished third overall in 1999, 2000 and 2001. 

The organisers of the BMW Norwegian Grand Prix saw the record speeds they were hoping for today, reintroducing the 'flying kilometre' with the Class 1 Edox Speed Run, with two boats breaking the 'Arendal' speed record.

Appropriately, the record, 161.26mph/259.86kph, set in 1999 by Victory Team's double World Championship pairing of Saeed Al Tayer and Felix Serralles, stays in Dubai, with Fazza's World Championship partnership of Arif Al Zafeen and Nadir Bin Hendi covering the 'flying kilometre' in 13.025secs, posting the fastest time of 171.78mph/276.39kph.

• Sheikh Hassan sidelined after a barrel-roll on lap seven
• Norwegian race win falls to Al-Mehairi/Sanchez in Victory 1
• Engine problems cost Al-Sulaiti and Nicolini shot at fourth place

ARENDAL (Norway): Bad weather had washed out the first of the two BMW Norwegian Grand Prix races in Arendal on Saturday, but the Spirit of Qatar Team endured a disappointing second round of the 2009 UIM WPPA Class 1 World Powerboat Championship on Sunday.

His Excellency Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor Al-Thani and Steve Curtis MBE retired Qatar 96 from third position after a barrel-roll on the seventh lap and Abdullah Al-Sulaiti and Matteo Nicolini eventually retired Spirit of Qatar 95 with engine problems on lap 11, after pushing hard to take fourth place.

IOTA has put an end to any lingering speculation about the continued participation of the Spirit of Qatar Team in the 2009 Class 1 World Powerboat Championship, confirming HE Sheikh Hassan Bin Jabor Al-Thani's decision to withdraw the team with immediate effect.

IOTA General Secretary, Marco Sala said that 'efforts to try to resolve the situation had proved unsuccessful'.

Sheikh Hassan's decision to withdraw the team was sparked by an incident at the start of last month's Norwegian Grand Prix and what he describes as 'the misconduct of teams during the start' and that 'officials were too slow to respond to the matter and the action required to be taken during the race'.

Jorn Tandberg will be looking to end his run of bad luck at the Romanian Grand Prix on Lake Siutghiol, Mamaia-Constanta, 28-30 August.

The Welmax team boss and throttleman has confirmed that fellow Norwegian, Kolbjorn Selmer, will again take the wheel as they look to break the jinx that sidelined the MTI-designed Mercury V8-powered Welmax in the opening two races of the season.

Defending World Champions, Victory Team, will be confident that they can tighten their grip and extend their lead at the top of the Championship standings in this weekend’s Romanian Grand Prix (28-30 August) on Lake Siutghiol, Mamaia-Constanta, round 3 of the UIM WPPA Class 1 World Powerboat Championship.

The Dubai team has dominated the season so far, and after wins for both Victory’s Mohammad Al Mehairi and Jean-Marc Sanchez and Fazza’s Arif Al Zafeen and Nadir Bin Hendi, the in-house rivalry for bragging rights is building.  Victory 1 currently holds the advantage and the number one slot with a five- point margin over their team-mates, with Sanchez and Al Zafeen – now team rivals – who won together in Romania 2007, both aiming for the race win.

Fazza completed the perfect weekend with a second race win in as many days, ensuring a clean sweep of the weekend’s honours. Welmax’s overnight repairs were rewarded with second place and Maritimo 11 made up for yesterday’s disappointment by taking the final podium place in Race 2 of the Romanian Grand Prix , round 3 of the UIM WPPA Class 1 World Powerboat Championship.

Arif Al Zafeen and Nadir Bin Hendi claimed their second successive race win to storm to the top of the World Championship standings. Another phenomenal start saw them power to the front of pack and they never looked troubled as they cruised to their third race win of the season. "It has been a perfect weekend," said Bin Hendi, "We are back on top of the world championship standings and we can’t ask for more than that."

Victory Team powerboat drivers Mohammad Al Muhairi and Jean-Marc Sanchez have tragically died following a high speed crash at Mina Seyahi on Friday.

Emirati rookie driver Al Muhairi and French throttleman Sanchez lost control of their powerboat which flipped and overturned during the 2009 Class One UIM/WPPA World Powerboat Championship.

A rescue boat rushed to scene and paramedics performed CPR on the pilots before airlifting them to Rashid Hospital where they were pronounced dead on arrival.

2009 was a highly-charged year mixed with emotions for Maritimo Australia; highs and lows, success, elation, dejection and drama.

Running a two-boat team with new hull engine-packages the season-opener was forgettable.  The team hit back in Arendal, Norway, with Tom Barry-Cotter and Pal Virik Nilsen (Maritimo 11) leading home team-mates, Giorgio Manuzzi and Peter McGrath (Maritimo 12), to post a deserved two-three finish.

The Romanian Grand Prix saw Maritimo 11 impress in qualifying and take a second podium in race 2, but it also saw the exit from the Championship of Maritimo 12 after a dramatic crash in race 1 ended their racing year.

Victory Team’s managing director, Khalfan Harib, was full of praise for his World Championship winning team, following their success in yesterday’s Mina Seyahi Grand Prix, which secured the Dubai team their eighth world crown.

Harib, who led the team to their first of many trophies, won his first world title as a driver in 1993 and his second in 2000 as a throttleman, believes the team has a great future.  “This shows that the Victory Team is as competitive now as we were back in 1993 when we started this Class 1 journey.

The Victory Team will be looking to wrap up their eighth World Championship in the Mina Seyahi Grand Prix in Dubai, the penultimate race of the season on Saturday, 6 December, by bringing both their boats home ahead of their Qatari rivals, who still pose a mathematical but improbable outside threat to their title.

Four wins this season for Victory 1 and five podium finishes for Victory 7 have put the Dubai boats respectively 33 and 18 points clear of Abdullah Al-Sulaiti and Matteo Nicolini in Qatar 95 and in an almost unassailable position, with the luxury of an in-house fight for the title.

Qatar 95’s Matteo Nicolini is keeping his options open as to which boat he and Abdullah Al-Sulaiti will run in their 2009 Championship campaign - their current Michael Peters-designed, Victory-built hull, or the newest offering from Nicolini Offshore, the NOC1CAT, that was put through its paces in Moscow and Arendal last season - confirming that he will run a series of crucial pre-season tests, with the first in Doha in February.

Victory Team’s general manager, Gianfranco Venturelli, has confirmed that 2007 World and European Champion, Arif Saif Al Zafeen, will make a welcome return to racing this season to partner newly crowned 2008 World, Middle East and Edox Pole Position Champion, Nadir Bin Hendi, in Victory 1.

The move sees Al Zafeen and Bin Hendi rekindle a formidable partnership that saw them win the season opener in Qatar last year, before a serious back injury - sustained in a Formula 2 race - sidelined Al Zafeen, with the team drafting in the services of 2001 World Champion, Mohammed Al Marri, to replace him.

Australia’s Maritimo Racing Team has confirmed they will enter two of their new specification Class 1 raceboats in their bid for race and title honours in 2009.

The new lighter hull, powered by two Mercury 790 V8s - designed and built by Australia’s premiere manufacturer of long-range luxury motoryachts, Maritimo – was unveiled in Dubai at the end of last year, finishing in fifth place on its race debut.  “In some ways, it was disappointing that we had no time to test before taking the boat out of the box, but what we saw was very encouraging,” said Maritimo team owner, Bill Barry-Cotter.  “We identified some fundamental issues, the main one being the rudder configuration, but we will put them right and make one or two other minor modifications before Doha.”

Sergio Mora Carrasco has confirmed he will run a new, two-boat Spanish Team this season, which brings a new engine-builder and boat manufacturer into the sport, taking the number of Teams to nine and boats competing in Class 1 in 2009 to 13.

Team Spirit of Spain sees Spaniard, Carrasco and Italian throttleman, Giovanni Carpitella, continue the partnership that they formed in Dubai last season which saw them finish an impressive fourth in the final race of the year.  The Spanish-Italian pairing will showcase a Michael Peters-designed, Outerlimits-built hull, powered by twin, Chief V8 supercharged power-plants.

Just days after announcing his decision to resume his role as President of the World Professional Powerboating Association (WPPA), Saeed Hareb has been elected President of the UAE Marine Sports Federation. 

“I am grateful for the trust that the Government has in me and I strive to work towards our targets,” commented Hareb following his appointment, adding. 

“I also wish to thank Lieutenant General Saif Al Shaffar for his leadership and guidance all these years.”