UIM FORMULA 2000 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Round 7 – Boat GP of Qatar, December 3rd-4th
For immediate release
Tuesday, November 30th, 2004
QATAR’S PRICE AIMS TO FINISH SEASON
WITH VICTORY IN BOAT GP OF QATAR
Italy’s Brigada, Britain’s Jelf and Sweden’s Andersson in title hunt;
Three Qatar Team boats in weekend’s Doha race
DOHA (Qatar): The Qatar Team’s Jay Price will be hoping to end the 2004 UIM F2000 racing season on a high note when he takes part in the Boat GP of Qatar this weekend in Doha. The season’s finale is being organised by the Qatar Marine Sports Federation (QMSF) and will decide the outcome of the Speed Record, Formula 2000 and Boat GP titles in this year’s UIM Formula 2000 World Championship.
Price endured a disappointing two days’ competition at the Breakwater in Abu Dhabi last weekend, when he was forced out of the Match Record race with engine problems and had to start the Boat GP of the Emirates from the back of the grid when he was forced to change the two-litre powerplant in his Qatar Team DAC.
Britain’s Owen Jelf went on to take the outright victory in the main race, when Italy’s Ivan Brigada was penalised for missing a marker buoy and, following a protest, was awarded sixth position instead of the winner’s medal he had earlier been given.
Price, on the other hand, fought his way through the field to finish inside the top 10 but lost ground on his nearest rivals and the championship contenders, as the series moves to Doha Bay for the final race of the season on Saturday (December 4th).
~Jay suffered a set-back in Abu Dhabi, but he is buzzing with enthusiasm and raring to go at the weekend,~ said Qatar Team Manager Mohammed Al-Jaidah. ~There are titles to be won in Doha and plenty of incentive for the entire Qatar Team to deliver a great performance in front of our home crowd.
~We have had more than our fair share of engine problems this season and this has been very frustrating. The boats arrived back from Abu Dhabi on Monday afternoon and the team will spend a couple of days finding out what happened on the last race. Jay’s engine suffered a piston failure and there were also engine problems for Mohamed Al-Ali’s boat.
~We need some luck on our side this weekend to avoid any more problems. Then we will sit down and assess our plans for the coming weeks and make sure that we are ready to go and fully-prepared for the 2005 Middle East Championship.
The overall Boat GP title – calculated from the Speed, Match and Formula 2000 racing disciplines – will be decided between Brigada, Jelf and Price in Qatar, with Brigada, Sweden’s Jonas Andersson and Jelf set to challenge for the main awards in the Formula 2000 category. Andersson was the 2003 Formula 2000 World Champion and the Molgaard driver from the Andersson Racing Team is keen to repeat his triumph for a second successive season.
The Qatar Team will field three boats in the Boat GP of Qatar. New Orleans-based Price will be joined by the luckless Mohamed Saleh Al-Ali and the third team driver Abdullah Salaiti, both drivers bidding to finish the season on a high note and gain more experience for 2005.
The UAE’s Arif Al-Zafeen and Emirates Team representative Thani Al-Qamzy will be hoping for a podium finish in Qatar. Al-Qamzy was one of the revelations of last weekend’s Abu Dhabi race meeting and made the podium in the Match Race after a third-place shoot-off with Britain’s Colin Jelf.
The weekend’s action gets underway with speed trials, the Match Race and Speed Record competitions on Friday afternoon (December 3rd). The Boat GP of Qatar will bring the F2000 racing season to a conclusion in Doha Bay on Saturday afternoon.
Ends
For further media information:
Neil Perkins, NDP Publicity Services, Mobile + (971 50) 3616881 and E-mail: ndppublicity@compuserve.com)
www.ndp-publicity.com (press releases)
www.formula2000boat.com
www.qmsf.org