Week end, 3-4 October, STRESA (Italy):

Race 1

A post-race long-lap time penalty cost Maritimo their maiden Class 1 victory, handing the win to Victory 1 and with it the lead in the European and World Championship standings. An already enthralling Race 1 of the Italian Grand Prix, round 4 of the UIM-WPPA Class 1 World Powerboat Championship, saw championship leaders Fazza suffer engine problems on lap five and finish seventh.

Victory 1’s Mohammed Al Mehairi and Jean-Marc Sanchez who finished the race in second place were sensationally handed the race win and moved a step closer to the European title. “It is not a good feeling to win like this, but I have lost a few in my career,” said Sanchez, “We thought we had Maritimo at the start, then I looked out of my mirror and they were right there. They had the inside line and got to the turn first.”

After crossing the line in first place, to have the victory snatched away from them with a post-race penalty frustrated Maritimo’s Tom Barry-Cotter and Pal Nilsen. A brilliant start-lap and Fazza’s problems followed by a near perfect drive, should have given the Australian-Norwegian pairing their first Class 1 win, but instead they found themselves on the second step of the podium following the penalty handed to them. “To lose it after getting a great start and matching the pace of the Victory boats, then finishing first leaves a real bitter taste in our mouths,” fumed Barry-Cotter.

A first podium finish for Victory 77’s pairing of Mohammed Al Marri and Abdullah Al Mehairbi, saw them fighting for position with Giorgioffshore and coming out on top. In only their third race in the cockpit together it betters their fourth place from the last race. “It feels good to be back on the podium,” said the 2008 World Champion, “and for me and Abdullah it shows that we are gelling.”

A good performance by Giorgioffshore’s Nicola Giorgi and Kurt Olsen saw the Italian team take fourth place. After starting in sixth, they had a battle with Victory 77 off the start lap, trading places over the first two laps. “I’m happy with the result, we had a good fight with 77 and were pushing as hard as we could but we just couldn’t catch them,” said Giorgi, before adding, “It is good to be the top Italian team in Class 1’s return to Italy.”

Diego Testa (driver in x-cat category) sits down on his boat during the class-1 race

Further down the field, C.A.M.’s Giovanni Carpitella and Christian Rivolta came fifth ahead of Foresti & Suardi-Roscioli Hotels’ Giampaolo Montavoci and Roberto Lo Piano. Welmax’s Jorn Tandberg and Kolbjorn Selmer had a fuel pump problem that ended their race on lap seven.

Fazza 3’s Arif Al Zafeen and Nadir Bin Hendi’s engine problem has dropped them to third and second in the European and World Championship standings respectively. “It is very frustrating and I’m very angry,” commented Bin Hendi, “but that is racing for you, you never know what is going to happen.”

ITALIAN GRAND PRIX – race 1
1. Victory 1 – M Al Mehairi (UAE) / JM Sanchez (FRA) – 29.01,76
2. Maritimo 11 – T Barry-Cotter (AUS) / PV Nilsen (NOR) + 00.08,60
3. Victory 77 – A Al Mehairbi (UAE) / M Al Marri (UAE) + 01.18,96
4. Giorgioffshore – K Olsen (NOR) / N Giorgi (ITA) + 01.27,35
5. C.A.M. – C Rivolta (ITA) / G Carpitella (ITA) + 01.51,34
6. Foresti & Suardi-Roscioli Hotels – R Lo Piano (ITA) / G Montavoci (ITA) + 03.09,70
7. Welmax – K Selmer (NOR) / J Tandberg (NOR) + 4 laps
8. Fazza 3 – A Al Zafeen (UAE) / N Bin Hendi (UAE) DNF

Race 2

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.

Foresti & Suardi boat (owned and driven by Giampaolo Montavoci)

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. They reduced Victory 1’s lead lap-by-lap and Fazza moved into first place on lap nine, going on to win the race by a comfortable 29 seconds. “We worked hard today. We weren’t where we wanted to be at the first turn and then had to push hard to close the gap. Our early long-lap strategy paid off as we were able to get ahead of Victory 1 on their second long lap,” said Bin Hendi. Today’s win, their fourth of the year, moved them up the rankings to finish second in the European Championship.

Following yesterday’s win, Al Mehairi and Sanchez knew that a podium finish would be good enough to claim the European title, which Sanchez last held in 2007. After leading from the start, Fazza tore past them but the second place finish was more than enough to get their hands on the title. “It was a perfect drive by Mohammad [Al Mehairi], we got to the first buoy in front but Fazza are really strong and deserved their win after yesterday,” said Sanchez, “It is better to finish second and have a championship in the pocket.”

Welmax’s Jorn Tandberg and Kolbjorn Selmer also had to drive through the fleet to claim a podium place. A poor start left them trailing the competition but an impressive show of speed moved them up through the field to take their third race podium of the season, finishing just 3.39 seconds behind Victory 1. “We had trouble at the start of the race, but the two early long-laps worked for us this time and we were able to pass most of the other boats to take third place,” Selmer said, “We are very happy with a podium finish after the way our weekend has gone.”

Despite having a day to forget with engine problems forcing them out on lap ten, Maritimo’s Tom Barry-Cotter and Pal Nilsen finished third in the European Championship. “The engine basically melted. I’ve never seen anything like that before,” said Barry-Cotter, “We came here with the aim of finishing third in the Europeans, but the manner that it has occurred leaves us feeling bitterly disappointed.”

Victory 77’s Mohammad Al Marri and Abdullah Al Mehairbi finished in fourth, despite a collision with Giorgioffshore on the first corner, to finish ahead of C.A.M.’s Giovanni Carpitella and Christian Rivolta after a tight battle during the middle of the race. Carpitella and Rivolta’s fifth place finish matches their performance from yesterday and means that they were the weekend’s top Italian pairing.

Foresti & Suardi-Roscioli Hotels, Giampaolo Montavoci and Roberto Lo Piano, claimed sixth spot and top Italian Team in the European Championship, after a sixth place finish while Giorgioffshore’s Nicola Giorgi and Kurt Olsen’s race ended on lap five after the coming together with Victory 77 resulted in severe damage to the boat.

Victory 1 lead the World Championship on 95 points but team-mates Fazza have closed the gap to only four points following today’s win. Class 1 now heads to the United Arab Emirate of Abu Dhabi for Round 5 of the UIM-WPPA Class 1 World Powerboat Championship, 19-21 November 2009.

Source of the text: (www.class-1.com)

Pictures and videos by www.dubaiblog.it

ITALIAN GRAND PRIX – race 2
1. Fazza - A Al Zafeen (UAE) / N Bin Hendi (UAE) 00.39.10,84
2. Victory 1 – M Al Mehairi (UAE) / JM Sanchez (FRA) + 00.29,41
3. Welmax – K Selmer (NOR) / J Tandberg (NOR) + 00.32,80
4. Victory 77 – A Al Mehairbi (UAE) / M Al Marri (UAE) + 02.41,34
5. C.A.M. – C Rivolta (ITA) / G Carpitella (ITA) + 1 lap
6. Foresti & Suardi-Roscioli Hotels – R Lo Piano (ITA) / G Montavoci (ITA) + 1 lap
Maritimo 11 – T Barry-Cotter (AUS) / PV Nilsen (NOR) dnf
Giorgioffshore – K Olsen (NOR) / N Giorgi (ITA) dnf

Bin Hindi dedicated the win to Luca Franchini, a young Victory Team engineer who tragically lost his life through illness earlier this year.

CLASS 1 WORLD POWERBOAT CHAMPIONSHIP – after round 4 of 6
1. Victory 1 – 95pts 2. Fazza – 91pts 3. Maritimo 11 – 55pts 4. Welmax – 52pts 5. Foresti & Suardi-Roscioli Hotels – 41pts 6. Giorgioffshore – 36pts 7. Victory 77 – 34pts 8. C.A.M. – 23pts 9. Qatar 96 – 15pts 10. Maritimo 12 – 12pts 11. Qatar 95 – 4pts
(World Championship points include bonus points allocated to teams for running engines for two consecutive races – one point, per engine, per race)

CLASS 1 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP – after round 3 of 3
1. Victory 1 – 75pts European Champion 2. Fazza – 67pts 3. Maritimo 11 – 51pts 4. Welmax – 44pts 5. Victory 77 – 30pts 6. Foresti & Suardi-Roscioli Hotels – 28pts 7. Giorgioffshore – 23pts 8. C.A.M. 14pts 8. Maritimo 12 – 12pts

VICTORY 1 CROWNED EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS AS FAZZA STORM TO RACE WIN: the podium

At the end of the cerimony, Giampaolo Montavoci and Roberto Lo Piano has been awarded with a prize to the memory of Stefano Casiraghi. The prize has been given by Stefano Casiraghi’s brother

Nico de Corato

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