Doha: The Dubai-based Victory Team, for the first time in six years, will carry the prestigious number one tag when the 2008 WPPA Class 1 World Powerboat Championship gets underway at the Qatar Grand Prix in Doha on Saturday (March 1).
For several years, the Dubai-based squad - the most successful team in the history of Class 1 - played second fiddle as the balance of power swung towards Spirit of Norway.
Five back-to-back titles in the most dynamic division in offshore competition meant Class 1 saw a new dominant force in the shape of Bjorn Gjelsten's ultra-competitive Norwegian team.
But in 2007, with Frenchman Jean Marc Sanchez on the throttle and the UAE's Arif Al Zafeen in the steering, the Victory Team finally bounced back to lift the world crown at the end of a season which saw Gjelsten call time on his Class 1 career and sell the Spirit of Norway team to Qatar's Shaikh Hasan Bin Jabor Al Thani.
Three months later, the world's fastest Class 1 fleet has gathered in the Qatari capital for the start of a new campaign that promises to be as intriguing as any staged in the sport's modern history.
For one, the defending world champions will be up against each other as Al Zafeen pilots Victory 1 alongside new partner Nadir Bin Hendi, while Sanchez takes the throttles of Victory 7 alongside rookie driver Abdullah Al Mehairbi.
The last time Victory Team reigned as Class 1 world champions, it was Saeed Al Tayer and Mohammed Al Marri who clinched the ultimate chequered flag back at the end of 2001.
This year, the Class of 2008 face a tough challenge from a number of teams in the defence of their crown.
