NEWS

Sunday, 8 August, UDDEVALLA (Sweden): Welmax team manager, Per Carsten Michelsen, says the chances of getting Welmax to the start-line for today’s race are improving by the minute. "Last night I put our chances at 30%, now maybe 70%."

Like their counterparts in Victory Team, Welmax Offshore Racing technicians worked through the night in a frantic effort to repair the damage to their raceboat following Jorn Tandberg’s and Kolbjorn Selmer’s ...

Sunday, 8 August, UDDEVALLA (Sweden): An army of Victory Team mechanics and boat builders worked through the night to fix the stricken Fazza following its spectacular collision with Relekta in race 1 of the Swedish Grand Prix.

And after finally calling it a day at 5am the team is confident that world champions Arif Al Zafeen and Nadir Bin Hendi will be in shape to compete in the second race later today. "Mechanically, everything has been ...

Saturday, 7 August, UDDEVALLA (Sweden): Team Abu Dhabi’s Giovanni Carpitella and Rashed Al Tayer celebrated their maiden Grand Prix win in a dramatic and incident-filled first race of the Swedish Grand Prix, which saw the race red-flagged twice, with pole-sitters Welmax crashing out on lap 1 and both Relekta and Fazza going-out on lap 1 of the re-start.

A third start saw a reduced fleet take the green flag, with Team Abu Dhabi, winning ...

Saturday, 7 August, UDDEVALLA (Sweden): Jorn Tandberg and Kolbjorn Selmer needed just one lap in today’s official qualifying session to take their second consecutive win in the Edox Pole Position, and put Welmax on pole for race 1 of the Swedish Grand Prix.

In what looked like a straight re-run of qualifying in Norway three weeks ago, the Norwegian-duo threw down the gauntlet on the first of two flying laps, setting theirs, and what ...

Friday, 6 August. UDDEVALLA (Sweden): Welmax duo, Jorn Tandberg and Kolbjorn Selmer, followed up their impressive showing in practice to win the Class 1 Aspen Speed run over the flying kilometre – setting identical times on both their runs.

Fazza set the benchmark of 15.84 seconds, only to see their time eclipsed four-times - the best, Welmax, 13.81secs - to put the current Championship leaders at the bottom of the pack.

The second ...

Friday, 6 August, UDDEVALLA (Sweden): Norwegian outfit Welmax laid down their marker of intent ahead of this weekend’s Swedish Grand Prix, topping the standings in today’s first official practice session on Uddevalla’s Byfjorden.

The Norwegian duo, who went quickest in qualifying last time out in Arendal, were once again impressive and stole-a-march on the Championship leader’s, Fazza, posting their best time of 2mins 23.86secs around the ...

Thursday, 5 August: Arif Al Zafeen and Nadir Bin Hendi are well on their way to becoming the most successful partnership in the history of the Victory Team.

The defending World Champions will put their winning streak on the line this weekend as they chase a hat-trick of season-win-doubles in Uddevalla at the Class 1 Swedish Grand Prix.

Fresh from two wins in Brazil and Norway, Bin Hendi is well aware that this weekend’s two races – ...

Wednesday, 4 August, UDDEVALLA (Sweden): Fazza 3 will be looking to complete a hat-trick of season-win-doubles in Uddevalla this weekend when the UIM Class 1 World Powerboat Championship makes its Grand Prix debut in Sweden (6-8 August).

The defending World Champions, Arif Al Zafeen and Nadir Bin Hendi, are in imperious form and seemingly unbeatable. But both men know that they will come under increasing pressure from a trio of outfits, ...

Thursday, 22 July: Raffaele Chiulli, President of the Union Internationale Motonautique (U.I.M.), the world governing body of marine motorsport, has vowed to spare no effort in unifying Class 1.

Attending last weekend’s BMW Norwegian Grand Prix in Arendal to host a series of U.I.M.-led initiatives and seminars on safety, headed by Bob Wartinger, and on the environment in conjunction with representatives of the governing bodies of the ...

Sunday,18 July, ARENDAL (Norway): Dubai’s Victory Team produced a racing masterclass in race 2 of the BMW Norwegian Grand Prix, with Fazza 3 and Fazza 1 finishing first and third, and the newest design to emerge from the Victory stable, Spirit of Dubai, finishing second.

After a spectacular and dramatic start, which saw home favourites Welmax win the drag-race to the first turn and lead the race for a lap-and-a-half and Fazza 1 almost ...

Sunday, 18 July, ARENDAL (Norway): Zabo Racing team principal, Jan Zaborowski, is confident that the team is moving in the right direction, and will improve each time the boat hits the water. "I am very happy how the weekend has gone so far. Times and positions are not the main issue for us. This is our first time out with this boat and the first time together for Christian and Paul, so we were more focussed on shaking-down the boat, checking ...

Saturday, 17 July, ARENDAL (Norway): Fazza’s Arif Al Zafeen and Nader Bin Hendi produced a dominant and faultless display to win race 1 of the BMW Norwegian Grand Prix, maintaining the perfect start to their title defence and extending their lead at the top of the World Championship standings.

Norwegians Jorn Tandberg and Kolbjorn Selmer were unable to match their spectacular win in this morning’s Edox Pole Position, finishing ...

Saturday, 17 July, ARENDAL (Norway): Welmax’s Jorn Tandberg and Kolbjorn Selmer will start this afternoon’s race 1 of the BMW Norwegian Grand Prix in pole position after producing a sensational qualifying performance in this morning’s Edox Pole Position.

In a close and exciting session that went down to the wire, the all-Norwegian pairing threw down the gauntlet on their first flying lap, posting their best time of 3mins18.40secs to ...

Saturday, 17 July, ARENDAL (Norway): After an impressive first practice session in the new Victory-designed and built Spirit of Dubai, Italian throttleman, Giovanni Carpitella, will be looking to up the pace in today’s race. "Our time yesterday was ok. We didn’t push, we are in a new boat and we have to understand how it handles in the turn and how the engine responds.

"We will try one or two different set-ups this morning and push a ...

Saturday, 17 August, ARENDAL (Norway): Despite the frustration of missing out on valuable time on the water due to a broken driveshaft in yesterday’s official practice, Welmax’s team boss and throttleman, Jorn Tandberg, is optimistic about their chances this weekend. "I would rather have problems in practice than the race. As long as we find reliability we will be in their fighting for the win.

"For this circuit we need top end speed and ...

Friday, 16 July, Arendal (Norway): Arif Al zafeen and Nadir Bin Hendi had to dig deep to win this afternoon’s Class 1 Edox Speed Run on Tromoysund Fjord, after being pushed to their limits by Norwegian outfit Welmax.

The defending World Champions, who earlier in the day posted the fastest time in practice, found themselves down in an unfamiliar second place after a blistering opening flying kilometre by Zaborowski and Tandberg, setting a ...

Friday, 16 July, ARENDAL (Norway): Fazza 3’s Arif Al Zafeen and Nadir Bin Hendi once again demonstrated that they will be the team to beat ahead of this weekend’s two-race BMW Norwegian Grand Prix, after setting the pace in today’s first official practice session.

The defending World Champions shaved five seconds off their first flying lap, setting their best time on their third and final run of the session, posting 3mins 25.78secs around ...

Thursday, 15 July, ARENDAL (Norway): All eyes will be on Welmax at this weekend's BMW Norwegian Grand Prix (16-18 July), round 2 of the UIM Class 1 World Powerboat Championship, to see if Jorn Tandberg and Kolbjorn Selmer can end Victory Team's winning streak.

The all-Norwegian partnership, who went second quickest in qualifying and took third place in race 1 at the Brazilian Grand Prix, look the most likely challengers capable of staging ...

Tuesday, 13 July, ARENDAL (Norway): Concerts, airshows, fireworks and a host of top-class entertainment will all be part of the mix, with NGP - the organisers of the BMW Norwegian Grand Prix (16-18 July) - laying on a weekend of festivities as Class 1 returns to Arendal for round two of the UIM Class 1 World Powerboat Championship, round 1 of the Class 1 European Championship.

Tucked away and hidden amongst the majestic fjords of the ...

Tuesday, 13 July, ARENDAL (Norway): Concerts, airshows, fireworks and a host of top-class entertainment will all be part of the mix, with NGP - the organisers of the BMW Norwegian Grand Prix (16-18 July) - laying on a weekend of festivities as Class 1 returns to Arendal for round two of the UIM Class 1 World Powerboat Championship, round 1 of the Class 1 European Championship.
Tucked away and hidden amongst the majestic fjords of the south ...

Thursday, 24 June:  The International Offshore Team Association (IOTA) has issued a revised calendar for the 2010 season, confirming 12 races at six Grands Prix with the exclusion of the Romanian Grand Prix.

IOTA received notification from the Romanian Grand Prix organiser, Power Marine’s Ionut Barbu, that due to the current economic climate in Romania they were unable to secure the funding for this year’s event but stated that ‘we ...

Tuesday, 15 June: Dubai’s Victory Team will head to Arendal for the BMW Norwegian Grand Prix, 16-18 July, looking to extend their lead in the World Championship standings and stretch their run of consecutive wins.

Not surprisingly, Victory’s general manager, Gianfranco Venturelli, has confirmed that the line-ups in both boats remains unchanged, with double World Champions Arif Al Zafeen and Nadir bin Hendi, who lead the Championship by ...

Tuesday, 15 June: Dubai’s Victory Team will head to Arendal for the BMW Norwegian Grand Prix, 16-18 July, looking to extend their lead in the World Championship standings and stretch their run of consecutive wins.
Not surprisingly, Victory’s general manager, Gianfranco Venturelli, has confirmed that the line-ups in both boats remains unchanged, with double World Champions Arif Al Zafeen and Nadir bin Hendi, who lead the Championship by ten ...

Monday, 7 June: The Class 1 Edox Speed Run will kick-start competitive activities at next month’s BMW Norwegian Grand Prix (16-18 July) in Arendal.

The Local Organiser has confirmed that the Class 1 Edox Speed Run - formerly the ‘flying kilometre’ and the format previously used in the UIM Class 1 World Powerboat Championship for Grand Prix qualifying - will take place at 17.00hrs on Friday, 16 July.

The Class 1 Edox Speed Run, ...

Friday, 28 May:  The world of Class 1 is deeply saddened to learn of the tragic loss of its former promoter, Mauro Ravenna, who died yesterday in Cuba from injuries sustained in a car crash in April.

Mauro was the UIM Promoter of the Class 1 World Powerboat Championship from 1992 to 1996 - going on to become the promoter of the successful UIM Aquabike Championship - laying the foundation of the modern-day championship format that ...

Tuesday, 11 May: Jan Zaborowski will return to a frontline role in the UIM Class 1 World Powerboat Championship at the Norwegian Grand Prix in Arendal, 16-18 July, as principal of a new team, with his son Christian making a welcome return to racing.

Zaborowski confirmed that he has reached an agreement with Jorn Tandberg, owner-throttleman of Welmax Offshore Racing, to run their second boat under new colours and as an independent ...

Thursday, 6 May:  IOTA’s newly appointed chairman, Mohammad Al Jaidah, has called for new rules which will enable fairer and less costly participation in the Class 1 Championship, with the aim of promoting the entry of new teams who can compete at the highest levels using a sustainable budget, a revision of the Class 1 rules to adapt raceboats and the racing format to new market requirements and the setting aside of any divisions and ...

Monday, 26 April: The Organiser of Sweden’s first-ever Class 1 Grand Prix has confirmed that H.R.H. Prince Carl Philip has agreed to be Patron of the event which will take place in Uddevalla from 6-8 August.  “This is a tremendous honour for everyone involved and we are very proud that His Royal Highness has accepted to be our Patron,” said Jan Erik Hanssen, SGP Project Manager.

Carl Philip Edmund Bertil, Prince of Sweden, Duke of ...

Wednesday, 21 April:  Following a six month stint abroad, the Class 1 fleet is back in Europe, and crews will now complete the final legs of their journeys to their respective home or European bases.

After being based in the UAE for the last two months of 2009 for the Abu Dhabi and Dubai GPs and to sit-out the winter, before heading to Brazil for this season’s-opener in Rio de Janeiro in March, the 5500 cubic metres and 700 tons of ...

Friday, 9 April: Swiss watchmaker, Edox, the official timekeeper to the UIM Class 1 World Powerboat Championship and the Edox Pole Position Championship since 2007, has announced the launch of its stunning new Class 1 Chronoffshore Limited Edition.

All the useful functions of a sports watch are present in the new Class 1 Chronoffshore Limited Edition.

Equipped with a tachometric scale and a robust, reliable chronograph calibre, ...

Sunday, 28 March, RIO DE JANEIRO (Brazil): Arif Al Zafeen and Nadir Bin Hendi completed a hat-trick of wins, winning race 2 of the Brazilian Grand Prix to take a maximum 40 points from round one of the UIM Class 1 World Powerboat Championship and make the perfect start to the defence of their World Championship title.

Fazza 1’s Mohammed Al Marri and Abdullah Al Mehairbi pushed their teammates all the way to claim another second place ...

Sunday, 28 March, RIO DE JANEIRO (Brazil): A sixth-place finish for Welmax Alianza’s Giorgio Manuzzi and Marit Stromoy was deemed a huge success by their team of mechanics who had spent a very long week working hard on the boat.

A four day delay in shipping meant that the team lost half the time they anticipated to have working on the raceboat in preparation of the season-opener. "Normally it takes two to three weeks to rig a boat from ...

Sunday, 28 March, RIO DE JANEIRO (Brazil): The new-pairing in Foresti & Suardi - SCAM, Fabio Magnani and Marco Pennesi, have started their season with a race finish, which was the aim for the season opener here in Rio De Janeiro. Magnani, who made his debut in the ill-fated race in Dubai last year, was in a candid mood as he reflected on the team’s weekend. "We do not have a competitive boat, so the aim has to be to finish races. We achieved ...

http://www.class-1.com/images/pdf/RIO10_PRACTICE3.pdf

Saturday, 27 March, RIO DE JANEIRO (Brazil): Duemme - Foresti & Suardi’s Giampaolo Montavoci and Guido Cappellini bounced back after the disappointment of being disqualified from the Edox Pole Position, to take fourth place in race 1 of today’s Brazilian Grand Prix, Montavoci’s best result since Arendal last year.

Montavoci and Cappellini posted the fourth fastest time in qualifying earlier in the day in dramatic style, stealing ahead ...

Saturday, 27 March, RIO DE JANEIRO (Brazil): A phenomenal performance by Fazza 3 saw them leave the field behind to dominate from start-to-finish to win race 1 of the Brazilian Grand Prix, the opening round of 2010 UIM Class 1 World Powerboat Championship.

The defending world champions were uncatchable and put on a master class, to lead home the field by over 45 seconds. Teammates Fazza 1 made the most of a fantastic start to complete a ...

Saturday, 27 March, RIO DE JANEIRO (Brazil): The opening Edox Pole Position of the season, saw a dominant performance from Fazza 3’s Arif Al Zafeen and Nadir Bin Hendi, posting the fastest time to take pole position for this afternoon’s Race 1 of the Brazilian Grand Prix. The battle for second and third places on the grid was fought out between Welmax and Fazza 1, with the Norwegians edging out their Emirati rivals by two seconds.

With a ...

Friday, 26 March, RIO DE JANEIRO (Brazil): Fabio Magnani’s season got off to a solid start in today’s official practice session. Driving a Class 1 raceboat for only the second time, after debuting in Dubai in 2009, Magnani was happy with the course and performance of the boat. "The course is very technical with four close turns," said Magnani, "It is a good course, we are a little long in the propellers but the last couple of laps were good and ...

Friday, 26 March, RIO DE JANEIRO (Brazil): Giampaolo Montavoci has enjoyed the start to the 2010 season, which sees the Italian throttleman racing with a new driver and in a different boat - the only Tencara in the fleet - and with Mercury V8 power-plants. "It is a much different boat from last season and I am racing with Mercury engines for the first time in Class 1," said Montavoci, "with Guido [Cappellini] alongside me, who is a very ...

Friday, 26 March, RIO DE JANEIRO (Brazil): Rashed Al Tayer is relishing making his Class 1 race debut in this weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix, stepping up from XCAT and Formula 1 to the premier class of powerboat racing. "I am excited about the race. We are looking to have a very good race," said Al Tayer, "Yesterday we were in the raceboat for the first time together and today I wanted to get as many laps as possible with Nicola [Giorgi]. It is ...

Friday, 26 March, RIO DE JANEIRO (Brazil): Mohammed Al Marri was satisfied with today’s first outing of the season, despite his reservations about the course. "The course is very tight and the size of a Class 1 boat makes cornering here very difficult. Racing a five tonne boat on a short course is abnormal and you have to slow it down a lot on the tight corners. We are ok though and will look to go faster tomorrow."

Friday, 26 March, RIO DE JANEIRO (Brazil): Kolbjorn Selmer has found the intricate nature of the course very much to his liking. Where some drivers have struggled with the chicanes on the inside, Selmer has very much taken it in his stride, as he looks for a podium finish tomorrow. "I like technical courses and I like the rough, and there is a little bit of both here. For me as a pilot it is good to have the technical stuff inside and then you ...

Friday, 26 March, RIO DE JANEIRO (Brazil): Reigning World Champions Arif Al Zafeen and Nadir Bin Hendi in Fazza 3 completed four timed laps in today’s practice session, all faster than any set by their rivals, to showcase their domination over the rest of the field and confirming they are unquestionably the team to beat. "The course is really short, I have never seen one so short but my experience in Formula 2 will be a huge help. The boat is ...

Friday, 26 March, RIO DE JANEIRO (Brazil): The first official practice session of the 2010 UIM Class 1 World Powerboat Championship, ahead of this weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix, saw reigning World Champions Fazza 3 carry on where they left off last season, producing a set of stunning laps. The all-Norwegian crew of Tandberg and Selmer in Welmax went second fastest, with Fazza 1’s Al Marri and Al Mehairbi going third quickest.

Double ...

Thursday, 25 March, RIO DE JANEIRO (Brazil): Norwegian, Marit Stromoy, took her first outing in a Class 1 powerboat in her stride, and in what she called ‘a big monster’, taking the wheel of Welmax alongside team principal and throttleman, Jorn Tandberg.  “It was very good and not so different in some ways from certain aspects of racing in F1,” said Stromoy.  “The cornering is different.  In an F1 boat you go in fast, trim the ...

Thursday, 25 March RIO DE JANEIRO (Brazil): Team Abu Dhabi was the first boat to take to the waters of Guanabara Bay, ahead of this weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix, with Class 1 debutant, Rashed Al Tayer, pairing with Nicola Giorgi for the first time.

Al Tayer and Giorgi enjoyed a trouble-free unofficial shakedown test completing several circuits. "This was the first time out with Nicola and I felt very comfortable with him. It was also ...

Monday, 22 March: F1 Powerboat legend, Guido Cappellini, will get his second start in the Class 1 World Powerboat Championship, 16-years after his Class 1 debut alongside Renato Molinari, in this week’s Brazilian Grand Prix in Rio de Janeiro, 26-28 March.

The opportunity to race in the season-opener was offered to Cappellini by Domenico Cirilli, team principal of Spanish outfit, Duemme Yacht Broker, following the last-minute and ...

Friday, 19 March:  Following the most successful – and most traumatic – year in their history, the Dubai Victory Team go into the 2010 season looking to defend the UIM Class 1 World Powerboat Championship title with a two-boat line-up.

The most successful sporting team in the history of Middle East sport, the Victory Team will present a two-crew line up featuring reigning world champions Arif Al Zafeen and Nadir Bin Hendi in Fazza 3 ...

Friday, 5 March:  Norway’s Marit Strømøy will become the first woman to race in the Class 1 World Powerboat Championship for over a decade when she makes her debut at the Brazilian Grand Prix in Rio de Janeiro, 26-28 March.

Welmax Offshore Racing has confirmed that the team will run a two-boat entry in their bid for title honours in 2010, with Strømøy joining her fellow Norwegians Jorn Tandberg and Kolbjorn Selmer and the second ...

Wednesday, 17 February: Class 1’s official photographer, Simon Palfrader, has won top honours in the 12th UIM annual photographic competition, lifting the gold medal in the Offshore category with his dramatic aerial shot of Maritimo 12 crashing out during the Romanian Grand Prix.

As in previous years, the competition attracted a huge entry of quality images taken during the 2009 calendar year from a variety of racing ...

Monday, 15 February: The International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Vancouver, Canada, approved its Executive Board's decision to give to the Union Internationale Motonautique (UIM) ‘full recognition’.

The UIM President Dr. Raffaele Chiulli stated: “The UIM is extremely proud and honoured of the recognition given by the International Olympic Committee to the UIM and to our sport. This is significant acknowledgment and appreciation and will ...

Monday, 15 February: Giampaolo Montavoci and Domenico Cirilli have re-established their racing alliance and confirmed that they will run a two-boat team in this year’s UIM-WPPA Class 1 World Powerboat Championship.

The renewed collaboration between Italian, Montavoci and Spaniard, Cirilli - first established in 2004 with the Italian-Spanish pairing sharing the cockpit in 22 Grands Prix, taking a Pole Position win and second place in the ...

The International Offshore Team Association (IOTA) will announce the calendar for the 2010 Class 1 World Powerboat Championship at the 41st International Boat Show, Boot 2010 Duesseldorf.

The press conference will take place at the Duesseldorf Exhibition Centre on Sunday, 24th January 2010, at 12.30 hrs, at the Marinepool - Spirit of the Ocean stand, Hall 11, Stand H41

Friday, 1 January 2010: For the first time since joining the Class 1 World Powerboat Championship in 1993, 2009 saw the Victory Team achieve the Grand Slam of all four titles in the same year, winning the World, European, Middle East and Edox Pole Position Championships.

But their year was shrouded in sadness and ended in tragedy with the loss of the lives of pilots, Mohammad Al Mehairi and Jean-Marc Sanchez in a high-speed racing ...