| Norway: UIM Class 1 Powerboat Grand Prix: Arsenal course will test racers skill & nerve |
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| Tuesday, 18 July 2006 | |
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Nigel Quilter: After a gap of four years, Class 1 returns to Arendal where over 100,000 spectators are expected to turn out for this weekend's Norwegian Grand Prix, round four of the UIM Class 1 World Powerboat Championship. And if there is such a thing as a 'street circuit' in powerboat racing, then Arendal is Class 1's equivalent to Formula One's Monaco Grand Prix with the 12-lap, 93.84Nm course, which runs mostly inside the fjord, set to test the racers' skill and nerve to their limits. Ten boats will line-up on Sunday, 23 July and only six of today's current competitors have raced a Class 1 in Arendal before with Spirit of Norway's Bjorn Rune Gjelsten and Steve Curtis and Victory's Mohammed Al Marri sharing the winner's slot in 2001 - the last time the town hosted a Class 1 race. If any team has an advantage, then it might be Spirit of Norway with Gjelsten and Curtis - winners of the first race of the season and last time out in Spain and who lead the title race by 11 points - the only current pairing with experience of racing together in Arendal. Qatar 96 heads a pack of three Mercury powered outfits and the chase to unseat Spirit, and whilst Nicolini is the only Qatar Team member who has raced in Arendal before, he and Sheikh Hassan have a good record on Norwegian waters, winning in Oslo in 2004 and Trondheim last year with Al Sulaiti and di Biase in Qatar 95, currently lying third, the only other outfit to grab a race win this season. After two podiums and lying fourth overall, Jotun's Jorn Tandberg and Christian Zaborowski will be looking carry their impressive form into what they consider their home Grand Prix and hoping to join the Class 1 elite by taking their maiden win in front of a partisan crowd. But if there is any team who can consider Arendal a happy hunting ground in the past it is the Victory Team, who, since the first race in Arendal in 1994 has won an impressive five times. And with Mohammed Al Marri and Jean Marc Sanchez, Victory 77, currently lying fifth equal with Giampaolo Montavoci and Domenico Cirilli in Foresti&Suardi-Roscioli Hotels, runners-up last time out and Victory 7's Al Suwaidi and Bin Hendi in seventh place in the championship, Victory desperately need a good result to keep them in the title chase. Chris Parsonage and James Sheppard will also be looking to turn their season around and will be hoping to rekindle the form that they showed in the opening rounds in Qatar to haul King of Shaves out of eighth spot with Ceramiche Flaminia, possibly fielding a revised driver line-up, looking for their fourth consecutive points finish and SeveneleveN's Nicola Giorgi and Paal Virik Nilsen hoping for a trouble free run and their second points finish of the season. For all teams the Arendal course will provide a different mix of challenges to those faced in previous rounds - tight turns close to the shore, chicanes and narrow stretches making overtaking difficult - and with conditions inside the fjord expected to be flat and possible rough water on the shorter outside leg, set-up will be crucial. What will also become a major factor is a proposed new start procedure with boats lining up in two different start lines, which, if it is adopted will place an even greater emphasis on the outcome of Saturday afternoon's qualifying session and if being in pole position for the race is considered important - being on the first of two possible start lines will be absolutely vital. Race distance: 12 laps, 93.84Nm Start lap 7.91Nm + 9 x 7.73Nm laps + 2 x Long laps 8.18 Nm Chamionship points after 3 rounds 1. Spirit of Norway - Gjelsten/Curtis 49pts 2. Qatar 96 - Al Thani/Nicolini 38pts 3. Qatar 95 - Al Sulaiti/Di Biase 32pts 4. Jotun - Tandberg/Zaborowski 28pts 5= Victory 77 - Al Marri/Sanchez 26pts 5= Foresti & Suardi-Roscioli Hotels - Cirilli/Montavoci 26pts 7. Victory 7 - Al Suwaidi/Hendi 22pts 8. King of Shaves - Sheppard/Parsonage 18pts 9. Ceramiche Flaminia - Chillocci/Esperto 14pts 10. SeveneleveN - Nilsen/Giorgi 7pts (Championship points include bonus points allocated to teams for running engines for two consecutive races - one point, per engine, per race) www.class-1.com |
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| Last Updated ( Tuesday, 18 July 2006 ) |
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