2009 UIM WPPA CLASS 1 WORLD POWERBOAT CHAMPIONSHIP
BMW Norwegian Grand Prix, rounds 2 and 3 – July 17th-19th, 2009
For immediate release
Saturday, July 18th, 2009
BAD WEATHER MARS OPENING DAY OF BMW
NORWEGIAN GRAND PRIX MEETING IN ARENDAL
· Edox Pole Position and opening Norwegian race cancelled
· Spirit of Qatar 96 sets second fastest time in opening practice
ARENDAL (Norway): Adverse weather conditions ruined the opening day of competition in the BMW Norwegian Grand Prix, round two of the 2009 UIM WPPA Class 1 World Powerboat Championship, in Arendal on Saturday afternoon.
Heavy rain, thick cloud and reduced visibility made conditions treacherous on the race course and the Edox Pole Position competition was cancelled. Drivers and officials met to discuss the situation and His Excellency Sheikh Hassan Bin Jabor Al-Thani was openly against racing on safety grounds.
“Visibility was down to around 200 metres on the race course and when you are racing at maximum speed that is just too dangerous,” insisted the President of the Qatar Marine Sports Federation and driver of Spirit of Qatar 96. “Another weather front was due to hit Arendal at the same time as the race was scheduled to start and my gut feeling was that the first day’s racing would be scrapped.”
Officials from IOTA and the WPPA met to discuss the day’s strategy. The Edox Pole Position competition was cancelled because of the adverse weather conditions on the Arendal course, but a decision on the actual race was delayed to see if the weather conditions deteriorated.
“The weather actually closed in during the afternoon and it was getting worse,” added Sheikh Hassan. “The decision was eventually taken to cancel the day’s action and the plan was to run practice, Pole Position and the Sunday race as planned. It is disappointing, but we have to put safety first.”
Official practice and Edox Kilo Run
The Norwegian Welmax boat set the fastest time in the opening 90-minute practice session on Friday afternoon with a session-winning lap of 3m 14.20s. Sheikh Hassan ran for five laps and posted a quickest tour of 3m 17.34s on his fifth run in Spirit of Qatar 96. Al-Sulaiti slotted into fourth with a time of 3m 23.65s, although only five boats took to the water prior to the Edox Kilo Run.
Fazza set the fastest time in the new Edox Kilo Run with a time of 13.025s and a fastest speed of 276.39 km/h. Sheikh Hassan and Steve Curtis clocked the third time of 14.205s, although Abdullah Al-Sulaiti failed to record a time and only five of the nine boats registered a time for the new initiative.
The starting order for Sunday’s race of 12 laps, including two long laps, will be determined by a planned Edox Pole Position competition on Sunday.
Ends
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