Other Sports December 2008

Victory on the verge of eighth world title

By Manila Chansmouth

The Victory Team will line up in Dubai for the final two races of the season on the verge of collecting their eighth world title in 16 years, after a dream result in the Egyptian Grand Prix in Porto Marina.

Hot favourites are Nader Ben Hendi and Mohammed Al Marri after championship leaders Victory 1 led home a one-two finish as all three of their main title rivals faltered.

Chris Parsonage marked his return to top-flight racing alongside Class 1 newcomer Billy Moore with an impressive weekend long display of fast times, bringing Negotiator home in third place.

The only question remaining now is which of the two Victory pairings will collect the silverware. The likelihood, however, is that it will be Victory 1’s Al Marri and Ben Hendi after the team’s fourth win of the season moved them 15 points clear of team-mates Abdullah Al-Mehairbi and defending world champion Jean-Marc Sanchez in Victory 7.

More importantly, it moved them 33 points clear of their Qatari rivals with just two races remaining and only 40 points on offer, putting Al Marri within sight of his second world crown and Ben Hendi his first.
“We worked hard all weekend to prepare the boat to make sure we had reliability and the best set-up.” said Ben Hendi, a former jet ski world champion. “The team did a fantastic job. They gave us two great boats and we did the rest. We had some bad luck in the last race but this win makes up for it.”

Strong winds and rough seas dominated the weekend and the conditions clearly suited the Qatar 96 crew above all others. Sheikh Hassan’s pre-race taunts to Victory that rough seas would give them the advantage seemed to be coming true.

Qatar 96 was quick in all practice sessions and in qualifying, Sheikh Hassan and Steve Curtis simply destroying the rest of the fleet and taking pole position by more than 12 seconds from Victory 1 with Jotun third ahead of Victory 7. For Qatar 96 this was a race they simply had to win – Victory on the other hand did not.

With rough conditions persisting on race day, officials decided to run a revised course and reduced the race distance to 70Nm, but the message from Victory Team’s general manager Gianfranco Venturelli to both his crews was to bring the boats home in one piece.

Qatar 96 immediately mastered the conditions and dominated from the start. By half race distance they had opened up what looked to be an unassailable twenty second lead over Victory 1, with Qatar 95 and Victory 7 running line astern.

“We knew Qatar 96 would be strong in these conditions and there was no need for us to push.” said Al Marri. “What was important was to look after the boat and get the points. Anything else would be a bonus.”

Trailing in the wake of the lead boats, Jotun’s hopes of a winning hat-trick and maintaining a challenge for the world title ended early with Aarbakke and Tandberg stopping on lap three, compounding a frustrating weekend for the European Champions. And despite enjoying an early tussle and battle for mid-order position, there was also disappointment for the SeveneleveN and Spirit of Spain crews, with Giorgi and Manuzzi retiring on lap five and Carrasco and Carpitella, brought in to replace team boss Domenico Cirilli, going out on twelve.

The bonus Al Marri talked about came on lap 14 when the leaders’ 20-second lead disappeared as they hit trouble and slowed down. Victory 1 swept into the lead and went on to take a comfortable win by more than two minutes – championship all but over.

For the Qatar team, the day went from bad to very bad. With Sheikh Hassan and Curtis limping around the course to salvage valuable points, team-mates Abdullah Al-Sulaiti and Matteo Nicolini broke a lap later in Qatar 95 handing second place to Victory 7.

“If there is any luck anywhere in the world we need it.” said Sheikh Hassan. “We had it in the bag. And to lose two boats in two laps is unbelievable. I think it is time to close the chapter on the 2008 title.”
Parsonage had said before the race that it would be a case of who was at the finish, not who was quickest – and how right he was.

Negotiator’s scratch pairing held off a race-long challenge from Foresti & Suardi and paced the race perfectly to take third place, capping a great return for Parsonage who had sat out the last four races and a Class 1 debut for throttleman Moore.

“This is a great result for us – I’m ecstatic,” said Moore. “We were a little short on top end speed but the boat ran real well all weekend and to get on the podium in our first race together is a really good feeling.”

Giampaolo Montavoci and Kolbjorn Selmer maintained their impressive record for reliability and produced their best result of the season bringing Foresti & Suardi home in fourth place.

“We had one or two problems with the steering but I was happy to finish fourth.” said Montavoci. “Our boat is still too heavy but the most important thing was not to damage the boat and get to Dubai in one piece where we will have new engines and new propellers.”

Class 1 newcomer Mohammed Abdelkader Ahmed survived his ‘baptism of fire’ and marked his Class 1 debut finishing in seventh place in Roscioli Hotels Roma with Ahmed Al Suwaidi.

For the Victory Team the title is theirs for the taking. But general manager Venturelli remains cautious.

“We know we are competitive and reliable but we still have to finish the job,” he said. “Never underestimate the opposition.”

The final rounds of the 2008 UIM WPPA Class 1 World Powerboat Championship will be held at Mina Seyahi in Dubai on December 6 and 13.