SUPER BOAT INTERNATIONAL 2013
Space Coast Super Boat Grand Prix, Cocoa Beach, Florida – May 17-19, 2013
For immediate release
Wednesday, May 15th, 2013
MOHAMMED AL-NASSER AND ALI-AL NEAMA SET
TO RACE IN SPIRIT OF QATAR AT COCOA BEACH
· Sheikh Hassan to prepare turbine boat ready for Orange Beach
· Qatar team counts down hours before lift off at Cape Canaveral
· Stihl holds early lead in Superboat class heading to Cocoa Beach
COCOA BEACH (Florida): His Excellency Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor Al-Thani has confirmed that Mohammed Al-Nasser and Ali Al-Neama will represent the Spirit of Qatar Team at this weekend’s fourth Space Coast Super Boat Grand Prix at Cocoa Beach, Cape Canaveral, in Florida.
Sheikh Hassan and Steve Curtis will use the next few days to finalise the preparation of their new turbine racer with a view to using the boat for the first time at the third round of Super Boat International (SBI) at the end of the month at Orange Beach, Florida.
“Mohammed and Ali will use our second boat in the 750 class this weekend,” enthused Sheikh Hassan, who missed the opening round of the SBI series in Biloxi. “The goal is for them both to get as familiar as possible with each other and with the boat. We are racing in a new arena this year, so we need to see how things work and how everything pans out on the race course.”
Meanwhile, Sheikh Hassan has pencilled in a two-hour test for Thursday morning (tomorrow) to enable the duo to prepare for the weekend’s action on water similar to that they will face on Sunday. “The idea is to look for top speed rather than just to become familiar with the equipment and the surroundings. The target is to ensure that Mohammed and Ali start well and finish the race.”
The Spirit of Qatar Superboat 750 class boat is the ex-Tony Abrahams Reliable Carriers offshore race hull. The 42-foot Marine Technology catamaran is powered by twin 750hp Scorpion Racing engines.
Sheikh Hassan confirmed that he and throttleman Steve Curtis will now be looking to debut their exciting new turbine boat at Orange Beach on May 31-June 2. “We were waiting for some major parts to arrive and it’s just a matter of time putting them together and getting the boat ready to run.”
The new Qatar turbine boat has been built in the USA in collaboration with Whispering Turbines, Five-Axis Industries and Mystic Powerboats. The new Mystic Spirit of Qatar Extreme turbine hull is powered by a pair of T53 turbine engines and is capable of propelling the boat to a top speed of 354km/h (200 mph) using Five-Axis technology.
Several other leading teams missed the opening round at Biloxi at the end of April and Ricks Collision 57 leads the Superboat Unlimited category and Lucas Oil Silverhook 77 has a 111-point advantage in Superboat Extreme. Stihl 13 leads by 51 points from WHL Motorsports 5 in the Superboat class.
Cocoa Beach registration and technical inspections get underway on Friday morning (May 17th) and teams will be permitted to carry out five hours of testing on the racecourse on Saturday.
The first of the races, sanctioned by Super Boat International Productions Inc and presented by Bright House Networks, takes place at noon (19.00hrs Doha time) on Sunday (May 19th) and the second ‘Thunder on Cocoa Beach’ fires into life at 2pm (21.00hrs Doha time). The dry pits will be located at The Cove in Cape Canaveral.
Ends
For further information:
Neil Perkins, NDP Publicity Services, Mobile: + 44 7831 123153, E-mail:
www.ndp-publicity.com (press releases).
www.qmsf.org
www.superboat.com