The UIM Class 1 Powerboat Championship took to the waters yesterday, marking Spirit of Norway's determination to retain their title with a second win on the trot at the Spanish Grand Prix in Alicante yesterday.

"We were concerned with the set up as we were running a little light to start with, but we took some water on to level her off and that prove an improvement," said throttleman Steve Curtis.
"We pushed hard at the beginning and waited for Victory 7 to take their long lap before us in order to get the clear water and stay ahead."

In second place on the podium and in the championship standings were Victory Team's Ali Nasser and Ali Al Qama. "Although it's a good result, we are looking for the first place and to be honest, we cannot really be content with any thing less," said Al Qama.

"We need to find the formula to end Spirit of Norway's winning streak to put us into first place," chipped in teammate Nasser. "We found the right combination today but we still need to work on the different choices of propeller and gear ratio. It is getting closer, so we are hoping for the results to follow."

Coming in third were Joselito Corti in Highlander 27 with temporary throttleman crew chief Leno Die Biase. He replaced regular throttleman Eduardo Polli, who sustained an injury.

Out of the running and into the pits in the start run, Victory 77's Mohammed Al Mari and Jean Marc Sanchez's hopes of being at the front for the duration of the race was cut short when they failed to make it even to the first turn buoy of the start lap.

The pairing were ahead of the pack when they were forced out, courtesy a transmission problem. "It is extremely frustrating. We really had a great start and managed to break ahead of every body," said throttleman Jean Marc Sanchez.

Not only were the pairing forced to deal with an early retirement, but were also hard pushed to avoid a collision. "We were going at over 100 mph and as we had slowed down so suddenly we were forced to keep the right engine running in order to avoid being rammed from behind. It was also pretty hairy with all the traffic at the begging flying past."

Although the pairing will claim no points for yesterday's result, a second place during the last round keeps them in fourth place in the overall championship standings.

For the rest of the Class 1 fleet new to the category, Italy's Hydrolift 99 had a fourth place finish, a move that puts them in third place in the overall championship standings. GFN Gibellato's fifth place gives them equal fifth place in the championship standings – a position shared equally with Negotiator 50 and Highlander 27.

Roscioli Hotels 9's sixth place finish places them eighth in the overall standings. Jotun's hopes of another top spot finish for the weekend looked to be coming true as they held third place until they too suffered from a broken shaft in lap nine. Both Qatar 96 and Negotiator 50 saw their hopes go out of the window. While it was a missed turn buoy and a retirement due to a broken connection pipe from the water intake to the engine for Qatar 96, it was a broken engine for Negotiator 50.