Class One season to begin this weekend

Athens: Eleven boats will line up along the picturesque Palaio Faliro in Athens in an attempt to snatch the early initiative when the opening round of the 2007 WPPA Class One World Powerboat Championship takes off this weekend.

And with former world champions Victory Team going without a major title for the past five seasons, the ball will be in the court of staunch rivals and defending champions Spirit of Norway.

"I am sure we will have the best season for a long, long time," said Saeed Hareb, President of the World Professional Powerboat Association (WPPA) and Managing Director of the Dubai International Marine Club (DIMC).

This is the first time-ever that the breakaway WPPA is organising their own calendar spanning over eight rounds of action starting with Greece this week and concluding with the seventh and eighth races in Dubai in December this year.

Final rounds

"We have tried our best to give the best to the participating teams and the residents of the eight venues," Hareb said.

Joining Athens in making their debut on the world championship circuit will be Constanta (Romania) and El Alamein (Egypt).

The championship will stop at two places in Norway - Oslo and Arendal, followed by Doha (Qatar) and the final two rounds in Dubai.

"We have requests from prestigious venues like Hamburg (Germany). But we cannot consider any further venues as it is too late for this year.

"Any new venue that can come in will now be only for the 2008 season," he said.

Of the 11 competitors, five are proven race winners and eight have grabbed podium finishes. Despite this scenario, defending champions Spirit of Norway led by Bjorn Gjelsten and Steve Curtis are still the favourites this time too.

Best finish

"We have suddenly noticed since the past few years that there are a handful of teams that have become very professional and competitive.

"So it is rather difficult to predict a winner in Athens," Hareb said.

Their closest challengers will be Victory 77 and Victory 7 along with the two boats from the Qatar Team led by Shaikh Hassan Bin Jaber Al Thani, who is also president of the Qatar Motor Sport Federation.

There are two new teams entering this season with the all-Italian line-up of Maurizio Ceschin returning to racing alongside Class 1 debutant Enrico Ceriale in Overwave and 19-year-old Tom Barry-Cotter teaming up with Norwegian Pal Virik Nilsen in Spirit of Norway 20.

Other boats such as Jotun - who grabbed their first win in 2006 to notch their best finish of coming in fourth - and Negotiator with Chris Parsonage and 2005 world champion Bard Eker behind the wheel.

"I am hopeful that the teams will put their best forward to make it an exciting and enthralling experience.

"I am convinced that this season will have the best to offer in terms of competition and sportsmanship," Hareb said.

"There are a handful of teams that have become very professional and competitive. So it is difficult to predict a winner in Athens..."

Saeed HarebPresident of the WPPA

THE TEAMS

1. Victory 7 (UAE): Ahmad Al Suwaidi (D) UAE / Nader Bin Hindi (T) UAE.

2. Victory 77 (UAE): Arif Saif Al Zafeen (D) UAE / Jean-Marc Sanchez (T) France

3. Veneta Marina 8 (Italy): Domenico Cirilli (D) Spain / Giampaolo Montavoci (T) Italy

4. Spirit of Norway Racing 10 (Norway): Bjorn Rune Gjelsten (D) Norway / Steve Curtis MBE (T) England

5. Spirit of Norway 20 (Norway): Tom Barry-Cotter (D) Australia / Pal Virik Nilsen (T) Norway

6. Overwave Racing 11 (Italy): Enrico Ceriale (D) Italy / Maurizio Ceschin (T) Italy

7. Giogiooffshore 18 (Italy): TBC (D) / Nicola Giorgi (T) Italy

8. Chris Parsonage Racing 50 (England): Bard Eker (D) Norway / Chris Parsonage (T) England

9. Ugland Offshore Racing 90 (Norway): Christian Zaborowski (D) Norway / Jorn Tandberg (T) Norway

10. Qatar Team 95 (Qatar): Abdullah Al Sulaiti (D) Qatar / Luca Nicolini (T) Italy

11. Qatar Team 96 (Qatar): Shaikh Hassan Bin Jaber Al Thani (D) Qatar / Matteo Nicolini (T) Italy.