Class 1 - Victory 1 European Champions

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 who finished the race in second place were sensationally handed the race win and moved a step closer to the European title.

After crossing the line in first place, to have the victory snatched away from them with a post-race penalty frustrated Maritimo. 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. A first podium finish for Victory 77, 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.

A good performance by Giorgioffshore 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.

Further down the field, C.A.M. came fifth ahead of Foresti & Suardi-Roscioli Hotels. Welmax had a fuel pump problem that ended their race on lap seven.

Fazza 3 engine problem has dropped them to third and second in the European and World Championship standings respectively.

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.

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 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. Today’s win, their fourth of the year, moved them up the rankings to finish second in the European Championship.

Following yesterday’s win, Victory 1 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. Welmax 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.

Despite having a day to forget with engine problems forcing them out on lap ten, Maritimo finished third in the European Championship.

Victory 77 finished in fourth, despite a collision with Giorgioffshore on the first corner, to finish ahead of C.A.M. 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 claimed sixth spot and top Italian Team in the European Championship, after a sixth place finish while Giorgioffshore 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.

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

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

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

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

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