Spirit of Norway take title

Steve Curtis and Bjorn Rune Gjelsten in Spirit of Norway clinched the 2002 UIM Arbank Class 1 World Offshore Powerboat Championship as their closest rivals for the title, Ali Nasser and Ali Al Qama in Victory 7 rounded off an intriguing season by winning a dramatic Dubai Grand Prix.

Even before the start of the championship's last of eight rounds, sponsored by Emirates airline and Dubai Duty Free, it was clear that it would need a mechanical disaster to prevent Curtis and Gjelsten from clinching the world crown, but the Anglo-Norwegian pairing had a smooth passage to finish second.

The real drama unfolded on the 13th of 15 laps, as Nasser and Al Qama, who had led for virtually the entire race, moved wide on a turn, and Saeed H. Al Tayer and Mohammed Al Marri in Victory 1 briefly took the lead.

Had they been able to hold on to it, last year's world champions would have climbed above Australians Bill Barry-Cotter and Peter McGrath in Riviera to secure third place in the world title race.

But in a final twist of championship fate, their challenge spluttered to a halt soon afterwards when their engine's alternator seized. Victory 7, having also fallen temporarily behind Spirit of Norway, suddenly made a great surge to regain the lead, and went on to win comfortably.

Riviera completed the top three, and the leading trio received their race and trophies at the Dubai International Marine Club from Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation and Chairman of Emirates.

Race starts in UIM Arbank Class 1 World Offshore Powerboat Championship are seldom anything less than spectacular, and this one was no exception, as the 11 boats roared to life, the two Victory catamarans immediately making their intentions clear as they quickly forged ahead.

With Victory 7 soon in front, and Victory 1 settling into second place, Spirit of Norway were content to relax into a comfortable third position, while Riviera's grip on third place in the championship did not immediately look secure as they slipped back, hindered by a leaking fuel tank.

While they avoided any terminal problems, three other crews were not so lucky. Roscioli Hotels went out on the second lap with engine failure, ECS was halted on lap six by a broken turbo charger, and Highlander went out on lap nine with a broken right propeller.

But there were no problems for Curtis, the youngest ever Class 1 world champion, and Gjelsten, who is also the chairman of English First Division football club, Wimbledon. Englishman Curtis, born in Wimbledon and now living in Hythe, Hampshire, won the first of his four titles in 1987.

He was also the first Englishman to capture the world crown, and the first man to win it three times.

From his maiden world championship success to his latest, he has seen the pace of Class 1 offshore boats climb from 110mph to the 160mph top speed that has taken Spirit of Norway to glory this season.

Spectators lapped up a brilliant cocktail of entertainment at Dubai International Marine Club, the race action blending in perfectly with the "Lifestyles" festival of music, fashion and luxury which added an extra dimension to the Dubai Grand Prix.

"This is the shape of things to come in powerboat racing in Dubai," said Nick Webb, director of Streamline Marketing, the marketing managers for event.

"We set out to make the Grand Prix more of an all-round attraction, and we're very pleased with the way things have gone at the first attempt. Now we can build on this success in the future."

Dubai Grand Prix results:
1. Victory 7 (No. 7) Ali Nasser/Ali Al Qama (UAE/UAE) 59 mins 55 secs (15 laps)
2. Spirit of Norway (No. 10) Bjorn Gjelsten/Steve Curtis (Norway/GB) 1:00:08 (15 laps)
3. Riviera (No. 11), Bill Barry-Cotter/Peter McGrath (Aus/Aus) 1:00:32 (15 laps)
4. Damas (No. 2) Kristian Tzanov/Giovanni Carpitella (Italy/Italy) 1:00:24 (14 laps)
5. Victory 1 (No. 1) Saeed H. Al Tayer/Mohammed Al Marri (UAE/UAE) 52:01 (13 laps)
6. GFN Gibellato (No. 9) Giampaolo Montavoci/Tomaso Polli (Italy/Italy) 1:00:09 (13 laps)
7. Binautica (No. 5) Roberto Biancalana/Claudio Dionisio (Italy/Monaco) 1:02:55 (13laps)
8. Jotun (No. 90) Andreas Ugland/Jann Hillestad (Norway/Norway) 42:03 (10 laps)

2002 UIM Class 1 World Offshore Powerboat Championship final positions:
1. Spirit of Norway (No. 10) Bjorn Gjelsten/Steve Curtis (Norway/GB) 131pts
2. Victory 7 (No. 7) Ali Nasser/Ali Al Qama (UAE/UAE) 120pts
3. Riviera (No. 11), Bill Barry-Cotter/Peter McGrath (Aus/Aus) 90pts
4. Victory 1 (No. 1) Saeed H. Al Tayer/Mohammed Al Marri (UAE/UAE) 76pts
5. Jotun (No. 90) Andreas Ugland/Jann Hillestad (Norway/Norway) 41pts
6. Damas (No. 2) Kristian Tzanov/Giovanni Carpitella (Italy/Italy) 38pts
7. GFN Gibellato (No. 9) Giampaolo Montavoci/Tomaso Polli (Italy/Italy) 31pts
8. Highlander (No. 27) Edoardo Polli/Renny Harlin (Italy/Finland) 20pts
9. Binautica (No. 5) Roberto Biancalana/Claudio Dionisio (Italy/Monaco) 18pts
10. ECS (No. 4) Matteo Nicolini/Bernhard Bellmann (Italy/Germany) 13pts
11. Roscioli Hotels (No. 8) Nicola Giorgi/Kurt Prufert (Italy/Germany) 12pts