BODRUM TO HOST SIXTH ROUND OF CHAMPIONSHIP
Offshore Sport Promotion has announced that Round 6 of the 1999 U.I.M. Class 1 World Powerboat Championship scheduled to be held on 12th September in Cyprus has been cancelled and replaced by a race on 5th September in Bodrum, South West Turkey.
Running as the Aegean Grand Prix, Bodrum, situated on Turkey’s Aegean Coast is the third new venue to be awarded a round of the Championship this year, emphasising the efforts of OSP to introduce new venues to the Championship.
After painstaking negotiations between Ugur Isik, promoter of the Turkish Grand Prix, IOTA (International Offshore Team Association) and OSP, Richard Ridout, managing director OSP was positive about the new venue and full of praise of the efforts of both Isik and Polli, President of IOTA. "The decision to cancel Cyprus was not an easy one but to be able to replace it with such an excellent venue is credit to both Ugur and Edoardo who have worked hard on behalf of all the teams in the Championship to organise the event in such a short period of time."
This year has produced some spectacular racing and high drama over a variety of courses and with five rounds remaining the Championship is very much in the balance.
With teams currently enjoying the traditional August break, it is Ali Nasser and Randy Scism, Victory 7 who head to Turkey for the back to back races (Turkish Grand Prix 29th August/Aegean Grand Prix 5th September) holding the whip hand. Carrying a 14 points advantage over team-mates Mohamed Al Ghaith and Khalfan Harib, Victory 4 and Saeed Al Tayer and Felix Serralles, Victory 44 tied in second place, it will up to the chasing pack to haul in the Dubai based trio.
Leonardo Polli and Jim Dyke in Jolly Motor lead the charge but have so far enjoyed a somewhat erratic season so will be hoping for more consistency. For defending World Champions, Gjelsten and Curtis in Spirit of Norway, boosted by their win in Oslo after a frustrating first half of the season, the possibility of retaining the title is now not such a distant prospect but a realistic possibility.
Proving that speed isn’t everything, Claudio Dionisio and Roberto Biancalana are enjoying an excellent run. Picking up points in every round to date they are lying in sixth place, tied with Edoardo Polli and Laith Pharaon in Hyatt, who proved in Oslo that they have the package to run at the front and that surely a win is just around the corner.
Andreas Ugland and Jann Hillestad in Jotun are also a force not to be underestimated and in only three outings have collected points finishes in each race. For Ugur Isik and Philippe Benhamou in Isiklar 22 the next two rounds will be a chance to enjoy the attentions of a partisan Turkish crowd but are aware that a shock result is unlikely. So too for Immersion, who continue to struggle with engines that are slowly being driven beyond their limits. For No Fear and Ken Thorne and Matteo Nicolini the future is uncertain after a frustrating season and continued development problems.