Preview - Fujairah Grand Prix -
U.A.E.
13 to 15 October '99
With three rounds remaining the curtain is set too rise at the Fujairah Grand Prix on Act Two of the 1999 Class 1 World Powerboat Championship and a more appropriate stage could not have been planned – the United Arab Emirates.
With act one played out in Europe - six rounds to the good – the first of the three titles on offer has gone to the all-conquering Victory Team. Crowned European Champions following their second consecutive win in the Championship at the Aegean Grand Prix, Ali Nasser and Randy Scism in Victory 7 are on course to sweep all before them. With a 34 points advantage in the overall title race and only 10 points shy of team mates Al Tayer and Serralles in Victory 44 in the Pole Position Trophy – one thing is clear – the sun is almost certain to shine on Victory’s parade when the curtain falls on November 5th in Dubai.
Masterminding the Victory Team dominance, Gianfranco Venturelli, has watched his charges collect 4 race wins and 7 podium places in the title race and 6 wins and a further 4 podium placings in the Pole Position Trophy.
With Victory 44 and Khalfan Harib and Mohamed Al Ghaith in Victory 4 hoping for a clean sweep, Leonardo Polli and Jim Dyke in Jolly Motor - the only team outside the Victory camp with an outside shot at the overall title - will be hoping to spoil the party over the next three races, starting in Fujairah.
The Pole Position Trophy is a much closer affair with only 15 points separating the leading three teams; Victory 44, Victory 7 with Edoardo Polli and Laith Pharaon in Hyatt the only ‘outsiders’ with a chance of restoring European pride.
Outgoing Champions Gjelsten and Curtis in Spirit of Norway have experienced the agonies of losing while winning on more than one occasion this season, tasted victory in Oslo, then disaster in Istanbul and will be out to prove a point and return to winning ways in Fujairah.
Although not front runners, Claudio Dionisio and Roberto Biancalana in Binautica have scored points in every round and will be looking to maintain their consistency and hoping that their reliability may even reward them with a podium place should others falter.
Two teams that will be hoping to banish the gremlins that
have plagued all season and fulfil a growing expectation are Jotun and No Fear. Whilst
Isiklar will be looking to repeat the performance of Istanbul and L.A Jeans can only hope
that a different set of engines will solve their run of bad luck!