2010 AUSTRALIAN CLASS 1 SUPERBOAT CHAMPIONSHIP
For immediate release
Wednesday, November 10th, 2010
QATAR’S AL-NEAMA AND CURTIS SET FOR AUSTRALIAN OFFSHORE RACES
Ali-Al Neama set to team up with Steve Curtis in two Victoria races
GEELONG (AUSTRALIA): Qatar’s Ali Al-Neama and British throttleman Steve Curtis will tackle the final two rounds of the Australian Class 1 Superboat Championship in Victoria, Australia.
His Excellency Sheikh Hassan Bin Jabor Al-Thani has not travelled to Australia for the two races in Geelong on November 13-14 and Melbourne on November 20-21 and has handed Al-Neama a golden opportunity to race with Curtis, with whom Sheikh Hassan won the ‘Thunder on the Gulf’ in Alabama and clinched the American Offshore Supercat title recently.
“This is a great opportunity for Ali to race with Steve and gain more international experience of Class 1 racing,” said Sheikh Hassan, who has now switched his attention to final preparations in Doha for the forthcoming Oryx Cup and the Qatar round of the UIM F1 World Championship, taking place in Doha between November 18-27.
Al-Neama and Curtis will race in a Class 1 boat supplied by Team Maritimo Offshore in Australia and running in the colours of Spirit of Qatar 96. Both Sheikh Hassan and Curtis raced in Australia earlier in the season and clinched a pair of victories in Mackay and a single race win in Townsville.
The first of the two race meetings – the Geelong Classic Offshore powerboat race – takes place at Geelong this weekend (November 13-14). The pole position shoot-out will be staged on Saturday, November 13, with a pair of races firing into life on Sunday.
The port city is located on Corio Bay and the Barwon River in the state of Victoria, a mere 75km from the state capital Melbourne. The city is home to Ford Australia.
The Sandringham Offshore Superboat race takes place in Melbourne on November 20-21 in Australia’s second city. Melbourne is located on the large natural bay called Port Phillip with the city centre positioned at the estuary of the Yarra River. Teams will quality with the pole position shoot-out on Saturday and take part in a single race on Sunday.
Competition should come from former Class 1 rivals, Tom Barry-Cotter and Pal-Virik Nilsen, in Mustang-Maritimo, Ross Willaton and Peter McGrath in Maritimo and Christopher Searle and Andrew Seale in Acme Racing.
Ends
For further information:
Neil Perkins, NDP Publicity Services, Mobile: + 44 7831 123153, E-mail: ndppublicity@googlemail.com and www.ndp-publicity.com (press releases).
www.qmsf.org
www.superboat.com.au