Spirit of Norway claim victory in eventful race

The city of Doha hosted the fifth heat of the UIM Class One World Powerboat Championship and witnessed another round of high-flying crashes and near-mishaps between competitors.

The 18-lap course on flat seas in the sheltered Doha Bay had Spirit of Norway's Bard Eker and Britain's Steve Curtis emerging the race winners and new leaders in the championship challenge with 78 points.

While the rest of the pack was caught up in a horrific start, they were caught in a lonely limbo for most of the race to finish 15 seconds ahead of Qatar 95 in second place.

For Abdullah Al Sulaiti and Lino Di Base in Qatar 95, this was their first podium visit as a pairing, a celebration somewhat marked by concerns for teammates in Qatar 96 after it crashed from the proceedings.

For Victory 77's Jean-Marc Sanchez and Mohammad Al Merri, after their Grand Prix win last week, despite shattered hopes of another first place on the podium yesterday, they were just glad to bring the boat home in one piece.

Narrowly missing disaster in the run to the first turn buoy, after standing the boat clear into the air, they miraculously recovered to climb from sixth to third place in the results.

Their fourth podium visit this season takes them to second in the championship standings 12 points behind Spirit of Norway.

"That was a terrible start. We saw Qatar 96 real close next to us. We started to lift in exactly the same way as when we crashed on Monday, but thankfully we managed to bring her back down," said Al Merri, driver for Victory 77.

For Shaikh Hassan Al Thani and Mateo Nicolini in Qatar 96, their hopes of a podium result on home waters was destroyed with some high-flying moves at the start.

However, they were unable to recover and succumbed to the perils of the sea with a somersaulting boat-destroying crash.

With two races and 40 race points still up for grabs, the race for the 2005 title is far from over and the final victor could be anybody's guess.

A three-week gap in proceedings will offer teams little rest and respite before the penultimate heat, the Dubai Grand Prix, will have the big boats battling it out again on December 2.

Standings

Championship positions after race

5 of 7 (unofficial):

1. Spirit of Norway: Eker/Curtis 78pts

2. Victory 77: Al Merri/Sanchez 66pts

3. Qatar 96: Al Thani/Nicolini 62pts

4. Negotiator: Parsonage/Scism 37pts

5. Qatar 95: Al-Sulaiti/Eker 31pts.