POWERBOATS RACE TO THE AID OF TURKISH EARTHQUAKE FUND
* Victory 7 wins Pole Position run in Istanbul *
The teams contesting the U.I.M Class 1 World Powerboat Championship, today confirmed their intention to donate all US$100,000 of prize money from tomorrow’s Turkish Grand Prix in Istanbul, to the relief fund set up in the aftermath of the devastating Turkish earthquake.
"The teams were united in their desire to help the victims of the earthquake and so it was unanimously decided that the most effective way in which we could assist was to donate all the prize money" said Edoardo Polli, president of the International Offshore Teams Association (IOTA.) "We are happy to be able to make this small, but heartfelt gesture to the people of Turkey, who have welcomed us with such warmth and enthusiasm since we first raced here last year," he added.
Meanwhile, Ali Nasser and Randy Scism in Victory 7 took top honours in the Turkish Grand Prix Pole Position Award today, with a career best run of 14.450 seconds (249.13kmh / 154.71mph) over a measured kilometer along the mighty Bosphorus strait. Following this, their second Pole win in a row, the current leaders of the overall Championship now move to joint second place in the Pole Position Championship, level with Hyatt which took second place today with a run of 15.120 seconds (238.10kmh / 147.86mph.)
"It’s great to score our fastest ever run, because we’re really just trying to race a smart-race, by running as hard as we can comfortably go," said Scism back in the pits. "Everything seems to be coming together well, which is good on a relatively new boat. We don’t want to overdo it and make mistakes, because we’re really focussed on the overall Championship," added the American, who along with all the competitors, wore a black armband in respect of the victims of the earthquake.
With their impressive turn of pace, 1998 Pole Position Champions Edoardo Polli and Laith Pharaon appear to have well and truly banished the reliability problems that have dogged Hyatt for so long, and are now on a mission to make up for lost time.
"The conditions were a little strange, with a bit of wind and a strong current, but we made the best of it" said Laith Pharaon afterwards. "We’ve worked long and hard to get the gearbox right and it looks as if the gremlins have finally left us. If they haven’t then at least they’re sleeping," he joked.
Close behind Hyatt, Saeed Al Tayer and Felix Serralles in Victory 44, retained a healthy lead in the Pole Position Championship, after securing third place with a run of 15.160 seconds (237.47kmh / 147.47mph,) along the river which splits Europe and Asia. "We thought that we were going to catch a wave from a ferry on the second run, but it never materialised and we went marginally faster than our first run," said Serralles later. "Still, I’m not too disappointed, because as I always tell my team-mates, it’s a bad omen for the big race to win the Pole Position run."