Saturday, Oct 25, 2008
Gulf News
Porto Marina: Qatar 96, driven by Shaikh Hassan Bin Jabor Al Thani with Steve Curtis on throttles, will start today's Egyptian Grand Prix on pole position after a stunning performance in Porto Marina.
Curtis, the eight-times world champion and the most experienced man in the 10-boat field, showed his undoubted class by throttling Qatar 96 around the 4.5Nm course some 12 seconds quicker than his nearest rivals Mohammad Al Marri and Nader Ben Hendi in Victory 1.
It was a breathtaking display by the Team Qatar duo who trail world championship leaders Al Marri and Ben Hendi by 21 points going into today's 91.67Nm Egyptian Grand Prix, round six of the Class 1 World Powerboat Championship.
"It's no secret that I prefer rough conditions where it is absolutely crucial to get the right propeller choice, boat set up and propeller pitch," said Curtis before proving his worth by posting a time of 3m:23.26s.
For Ben Hendi and Al Marri, there was no disgrace at being left in Curtis's wake, more a healthy respect and admiration for a man who has lifted world titles in each of the last three decades. "They say Steve is the best throttleman in the world and he showed today just how to get a boat in the right shape for conditions like this," said Ben Hendi after Victory 1's time of 3m:35.53s.
"He has years of offshore and rough water experience so we're not surprised at his time - he had the set-up absolutely spot on.
"But our aim this weekend is to get some points on the board to maintain our championship lead before we face the final two races of the season back home in Dubai in December. We now know the set-up to run on race day tomorrow and we're on the front of the grid so it's not been a bad day."
Looking ahead
While Jotun 90 - crewed by Jorn Tandberg and Inge Brigt Aarbakke - edged third place by two hundredths of a second from Abdullah Al Mehairbi and Jean Marc Sanchez in Victory 7, Sanchez said he was looking ahead to the race itself. "There was nothing between us and Jotun," he said. "And if you look at the times for the rest of the leading boats, we were all pretty close - Steve and Shaikh Hassan simply blew us all away.
"I think most of us went too long in the prop but we should have followed Victory 1's example and stayed out to do back-to-back laps rather than come in and change props. By the time we went back on the course, the wind had picked up and made the change pointless."
With Shaikh Hassan saying anything less than 20 points for a Grand Prix victory would be unacceptable to Team Qatar, Curtis knows a similar performance is required in today's race.
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