Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, December 16, 2004….. Perfect race conditions greeted the twenty two UIM F1 powerboat drivers for the qualifying sessions of the Grand Prix of the United Arab Emirates in Sharjah today.
A long 2550m course with two 700m stretches around 5 corners, five left and one right-hander posed some immediate challenges with regards to the boat set up and choice of propellers.
“It’s always difficult to get the balance right, it will take some work as our props are currently either too short or too long and there is quite a strain on the engines on the longer stretches,” commented newly crowned 2004 World Champion Scott Gillman.
Nestled in the Khaled Lagoon the circuit is however shielded from strong winds and large waves allowing drivers to put in some excellent speeds.
The first qualifying got underway at 13:00. Times were impressive with the top four drivers finishing with literally just hundreds of seconds between them. Cappellini closed the session in first place closely followed by rookie Rolf Sunde from the DanIta Racing team; Laith Pharaon; winner from the last race in Malaysia Comparato and Gillman.
Times improved even further in the second qualifying with Gillman’s team mate Thani Al Qamzi racing in with the second fastest speed of 0:51.75 behind Cappellini. Gillman, Comparato and Pharaon all increased their speed ahead of Rolf Sunde who finished in 6th place.
The six place shoot out saw little change in the line up with the exception of Al Qamzi dropping to 5th overall place and Comparato sneaking into second position.
Cappellini was thrilled with his 56th career pole and his 3rd pole of his somewhat disastrous 2004 season. “I’ve done a great deal of testing in the past week and we’ve learned a lot. I’m confident for the next season and will enjoy the race tomorrow,” he commented.
Fresh from his win in Malaysia, Fabio Comparato was in high spirits. “I’m definitely feeling more confident. My strategy here was to get into the final six today and then I knew I could show how fast I could race. I’m pleased to have achieved that.”
Gillman was looking relaxed and happy having secured the triple crown today; 2004 World Championship title, 2004 Team Championship and 2004 Pole Position Champion for the most accumulated points.
“Tomorrow I will take it slightly easy basking in the glory of my win,” Gillman commented. “Though I’m sure once I hear the engines roar I’ll want to race to win!” he added.
The Grand Prix of the United Arab Emirates starts tomorrow, Friday 17th December at 16:15 local time.
