Victory goes for win after boat rebuilt

Arendal, Norway: Less than two weeks after a major crash, the Dubai-based Victory Team's Abdullah Al Mehairbi and Jean Marc Sanchez return to racing action this weekend.

They will take to the water in the rebuilt Victory 7 for the BMW Norwegian Grand Prix in Arendal.

The pair currently lie in second place in the Class 1 World Powerboat Championship.

Al Mehairbi and Sanchez finished a highly creditable fourth in Moscow after colliding with arch rivals Shaikh Hassan Bin Jabor Al Thani and Steve Curtis.

Victory 7 completed the race but the crash tore a ten-foot hole in the hull of the Dubai boat.

The damage resulted in a hasty rebuild for the fourth round of the series in the picturesque town of Arendal.

Fibre-glass work

After some last minute work by team personnel in Dubai and Norway, Victory 7 will be in the nine-boat line-up for the start on Sunday.

"We had the fibre-glass team in Dubai come up with a replacement part to get the boat back ready to race," said Al Mehairbi, currently in his rookie season in powerboat racing's elite class.

"Three of the workshop guys then flew to Norway and the team has been working round the clock to get Victory 7 ready to go.

"The boat was finally ready this morning and we're ready to go.

"We have to give credit to the guys behind the scenes both here and back in Dubai.

"Once again, they have come up with the goods in a such a short period of time.

Championship hopes

Meanwhile team-mates and championship leaders Mohammad Al Marri and Nadir Bin Hendi know that a fourth straight win for Victory 1 will virtually secure the Dubai pairing their first European Championship title and a sixth Euro crown for the Victory Team.

The Dubai team has an impressive record in Arendal having won six out of the eleven races held in the Norwegian coastal town since 1994 and with Victory 1 unbeaten this season, Al Merri and Bin Hendi appear to be unstoppable.