Round 7 – Fujairah Grand Prix – Fujairah, U.A.E.
VICTORY 4 ‘RESTORED’ TO WINNING WAYS
* Polli vaults into 2nd place to score third podium of season *
* Nasser & Scism run with smoke in cockpit to finish 3rd *
* Binautica keeps 100% reliability record to finish 4th *
* No Fear & Jotun both impress before retiring *
Khalfan Harib and Mohamed Al Ghaith steered their extensively re-built Victory 4 boat to top honours at the Fujairah Grand Prix in the U.A.E. today, despite being pushed all the way to the line by Hyatt after they broke a propeller five laps from the end.
However, Hyatt’s crew, Edoardo Polli and Laith Pharaon were themselves pushed hard over the last few laps by 3rd placed Ali Nasser and Randy Scism, who despite experiencing early engine problems which forced them to run with smoke in the cockpit, had fought their way back through a decimated field.
"We are both exhausted," admitted Mohamed Al Ghaith. "That was the hardest race ever. There were so many turns and so much work to do, but we were very comfortable being back in the old boat that we know and trust."
"We knew that Hyatt was catching us because we were in touch with our crew, but it was important to save the engine & get to the finish," continued Khalfan Harib. "We’re obviously very happy, but also very aware that the only reason we won was because our team-mates had problems," he added.
"When we saw that Victory 4 had a problem, we thought that we might catch them, but we lost a turbine on one engine so we had to settle for second place," continued Edoardo Polli later, as he sucked on his trademark cigar. "I think that if we had been at full strength, then we would probably have won the race," he added.
"We got off to a great start, everything was going fine and then about one lap into the race the cockpit started to fill up with smoke," confessed Randy Scism. "So we slowed down, checked everything we could inside the boat, but it just kept getting worse. We knew that we had to finish 70% of the course to have a chance of scoring points, so we stopped and checked the engine compartment and there was fluid all over the right engine. We didn’t know what the fluid was, so we ran steadily and then picked up the pace later on despite having to get air through the regulators because there was so much smoke," he added.
Meanwhile, the action packed race of attrition, that saw only six of the 11 starters complete the 13 lap, 129.05nm course, also saw impressive performances from both Ken Thorne and Matteo Nicolini in No Fear and Andreas Ugland and Jann Hillestad in Jotun, both of whom were running as high as 3rd, until engine troubles forced them to retire.
"It was a very challenging tight course, which I think helped us quite a lot," admitted Andreas Ugland back on dry land. "Both Jann and I used to compete in circuit racing, so in a way it was back to the good old days and we really enjoyed ourselves."
In front of a huge partisan crowd basking in temperatures of 40° C, it was however Saeed Al Tayer and Felix Serralles in Victory 44 who perhaps had the biggest reason to rue their luck. After leading impressively for much of the race, the pair’s race and indeed Championship aspirations, were effectively ended when they catastrophically suffered not one, but two broken propellers.
"I want to thank all the guys in my crew, who did a fantastic job of getting the boat ready," said a clearly disappointed Serralles afterwards. "We were really flying and having a good time, but although we were propped perfectly, they just couldn’t take the pounding. There was alot of different types of water out there, which made it really exciting and the heat was just unbelievable. We were really starting to feel weary towards the end."
"We didn’t take any prisoners today and of course we’re very disappointed, but from the team’s perspective I think it’s clear that we are on the threshold of a new era," continued his team-mate Saeed Al Tayer.
Meanwhile, the ever-dependable Binautica, piloted by Claudio Dionisio and Roberto Biancalana, retained its enviable 100% record to finish fourth. However, although they claimed another nine points, it wasn’t enough to stop them slipping back to sixth overall in the Championship standings after being overtaken by Hyatt.
Bjorn Gjelsten and Steve Curtis in Spirit of Norway – another heavily repaired boat making its return after recent accident damage, were also left to rue the extreme heat and unpredictable swell, which may have contributed to the electrical problem that brought their race to an end. Despite closely stalking Victory 7 to the first turn buoy, the outgoing World Champions were forced to retire early on the second lap when they found themselves unable to select third gear.
"We got a great start and chased Randy hard to the first pin, and I think that we would have caught them, but then this electrical problem put paid to all that," said Curtis. "Since the boat’s been re-built we’ve been chasing around looking for problems, but unfortunately we just didn’t find that one."
With the final two rounds of the Championship – the Emirates Grand Prix (October 29) and the Dubai Duty Free Grand Prix (November 5) both looming, it looks likely that the Series will go down to the wire once again. The only question left to be answered is, will it be Victory 7 or Victory 4 who will lift the coveted trophy when it is presented on home soil at the Dubai International Marine Club headquarters.