The second round of the WPPA’s 2007 Class 1 World Powerboat Championship saw the ten teams arrive in Arendal, Norway, one of the traditional highlights of the tour as the fjords provide a natural ‘street circuit’ for spectators and competitors alike for the Norwegian Grand Prix. Spread over 95.72 nautical miles, the 12-lap course did not give the home teams the advantage they may have hoped for, with a continued Middle East dominance of the podium: Victory 77’s Arif Saif Al Zafeen and Jean-Marc Sanchez clinching their second consecutive top spot, followed by Sheikh Hassan Al-Thani and Matteo Nicolini, bringing Qatar 96 home in second spot ahead of Victory 7’s Ahmed Al Suwaidi and Nadir Bin Hendi, also making it two from two.
Racing the new Edox Pole Position format meant that though Victory 77 set the best lap time, it was the defending world champions who took the pole position for their home race. The new Pole Position format sees qualifying split into two sessions: the first 40 minutes gives teams three laps to set a time to qualify for the top six and take them to the next session. This is a 25-minute shootout to determine who will line up in Pole Position on the front row. Consistent driving allowed Spirit of Norway to get in front of the two Victory teams, that were slowed due to minor trim problems. However, this did not slow them on race day, as starting from second spot on the front row, Al Zafeen and Sanchez in Victory 77 were second into the first corner, trailing the defending champions for four laps until, on lap five, Spirit of Norway hit trouble with a broken water hose that forced them into the pits, to let Victory 77 grab the lead to set an unchallenged 53mins 59.42secs time.
Celebrating his 30th Grand Prix, Sheikh Hassan’s second position with Nicolini on Qatar 96 keeps them very much in the title hunt and moves them into second equal place in the championship, “I am very pleased with the result today,” said Sheikh Hassan. “We are now level in the championship in second place with Victory 7 and in a good position to challenge Victory 77. It was a difficult race. Everyone was racing aggressively early on, but we managed to get past Victory 7 on the start lap and then just knuckled down and focussed on keeping Victory 7 behind us.”
Third place for Ahmed Al Suwaidi and Nader bin Hendi completed a double celebration for the Victory Team, and for the second race in a row, a rout of the podium by the Middle East teams. The first of the European teams was Foresti & Suardi, with Giampaolo Montavoci and Marco Pennesi coming in an impressive fourth place in their first race together and on Pennesi’s Class 1 debut. Also producing an impressive showing was the youngest pairing in Class 1, Tom Barry-Cotter and Pal Nilsen in Spirit of Norway 20, who finished fifth, despite having some steering issues that led them to ‘clout’ a buoy. Outside of the top five, there was a trail of disappointment. Bjorn Gjelsten and Steve Curtis, looked to be in control of the race and on course to put their title challenge back on track, but were only able to salvage five points when engine problems forced them to stop. Negotiator’s miserable start to the season continued, leading the long list of retirements; SeveneleveN, Jotun, VM Foresti & Suardi and Qatar 95 all stopping with technical problems.
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