Seven up!

Dubai: Five-time world champions Spirit of Norway won a record seventh Pole Position during the eighth and final round of the 2007 WPPA Class One World Powerboat Championship.

Close on his heels in second was Victory 77 while Qatar 96 settled in for third thus paving the way for a mouth-watering finish to the 2007 season.

Bjorn Rune Gjelsten and Steve Curtis' Spirit of Norway was the early pace-setter with a time of 2 minutes, 31.84 seconds. They improved on this to 2:27.98 in their last lap.

But Qatar 96, with Shaikh Hassan Bin Jaber Al Thani and Matteo Nicolini came up with a close time of 2:31.51 to nestle into second place.

This proved to be a temporary settlement as Victory 77 - powered by newly-crowned world champions Aref Al Zafein and Jean Marc Sanchez - had other ideas going out last to time at 2:29.89.

The Anglo-Norwegian pairing of Curtis and Gjelsten has won all seven Pole Positions held this season to total a maximum 140 points. Victory 77 takes second place with 78 points, while Qatar 96 stay in third with 73 points.

"We are very happy with what we have achieved today. We will go all out, yet be prudent in our approach tomorrow as we would like to end the season on a winning note," Gjelsten told Gulf News.

"Our win today and the consistency of our boat during Pole Position shows the capacity for driving," he added.

With nothing to lose in today's final race of the season, Al Zafein was more straight-forward. "I want to win to show the world that we are worthy to be world champions," he said.

Qatar 96 driver Shaikh Hassan too was pleased with himself about starting today's race in third place. "We tried hard as all the boats were really pushing for the best time.

'But we always knew that Spirit of Norway would be quick and Victory 77 would always be a challenger," Shaikh Hassan said.

Victory Team general manager Gian Franco Venturelli was thrilled about the exciting Pole Position run.

"It can't get better than this," he enthused.