2007 UIM F1 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Qatar F1 Team latest news
For immediate release
Wednesday, April 25th, 2007
QATAR F1 TEAM PREPARES FOR EXCITING
NEW UIM F1 POWERBOAT RACING SEASON
Qatar Team set to run a three-boat F1 team in 2007;
Two young Qatari drivers set for exciting test programme;
Sweden’s Pelle Larsson takes over as Qatar F1 Team Manager
DOHA (Qatar): The Qatar F1 Team is making its final preparations for what promises to be one of the most exciting seasons of UIM F1 World Powerboat racing in the history of the sport. The Doha-based team will take part in a revised 10-round championship, which spans races in Europe, the Far East and the Middle East and gets underway with the Grand Prix of Portugal in Portimao on Sunday, May 13th.
Under the new management of Sweden’s Pelle Larsson at the Qatar Marine Sports Federation (QMSF), Qatar’s F1 Team will field both American Jay Price and Italian Massimo Roggiero in a pair of BaBa boats this season and have the option to run the 27-year-old Italian driver Leo Bonelli in a third race hull. Bonelli was the 2001 F1000 Italian Champion, while Larsson was the team manager for fellow Swede Jonas Andersson in last year’s UIM F1 World Championship.
Qatar’s Mohammed Al-Jaidah remains the Head of Formula Racing at the QMSF, but the team has exciting plans to train and nurture two up-and-coming young Qatari racers throughout the 2007 season, with a view to introducing one of them into the 2008 UIM F1 World Championship team.
Twenty-seven-year-old Yousif Al-Hulaifi is based in Doha and has graduated from pleasure boat racing. He will be joined on the training programme by 25-year-old Ahmed Al-Khaldi, who has made a name for himself in the discipline of aqua bike racing in Qatar.
~The plan is for the two youngsters to join the team on events this season and get to know what goes on in F1 racing,~ said 42-year-old Larsson, the QMSF’s F1 Team Manager, who raced himself between 1970 and 1982 before switching to the organisational side of the sport. ~They will also tackle Formula Two races in Italy and Sweden to learn more about race craft and gain as much experience as possible.
~This season we have the option to run three boats in the main championship for Jay, Massimo and Leo, so it looks like being a busy and very exciting season.~
Last year’s championship developed into a two-boat challenge between eventually champion Scott Gillman of the Emirates Team and Italian Guido Cappellini of the Tamoil Team, but both Qatar Team boats were competitive, especially towards the latter end of the season. Price eventually finished in eighth place, with Roggiero down in 13th, but Larsson is confident that the two drivers will be challenging for the podium when the season kicks off on the Algarve in mid-May.
Qatar will host its very own Grand Prix on Saturday, November 24th and other additions to the international calendar include new events in Singapore and Malaysia, a second race in China and a new yet-to-be-finalised Grand Prix in Greece. The traditional UAE events in Abu Dhabi and Sharjah bring the year to what promises to be a dramatic conclusion in December.
2007 UIM F1 World Championship – revised calendar dates
Grand Prix of Portugal May 13
Grand Prix of France May 20
Grand Prix of Greece July 1 (TBC)
Grand Prix of Singapore August 18
Grand Prix of Malaysia September 8
Grand Prix of China 1 October 5
Grand Prix of China 2 October 21
Grand Prix of Qatar November 24
Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi December 8
Grand Prix of Sharjah December 15
Ends
For further information:
Neil Perkins, NDP Publicity Services, Mobile: + 44 7831 123153, E-mail: ndppublicity@compuserve.com. www.ndp-publicity.com (press releases).
www.f1boat.com
www.qmsf.org