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| Abdulla Al-Sulaiti (Qatar) |
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| Qatar 95 |
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Driver
Date of Birth:
20/08/1975
Place
of Birth: Doha, Qatar
Residence:
Doha
Abdullah made his Class 1 debut in 2005, taking his first podium in Doha, finishing second, and his second podium in Dubai alongside Matteo Nicolini. His first win in Class 1 came in the Qatar Grand Prix in Doha in 2006, finishing third overall in the title race. He made his powerboat racing debut in 2002 competing in the Middle East F2 series, going on to compete in the F2 World Championships in 2004 and 2005, scoring three top ten finishes. In 2004 he competed in the Qatar Pleasure Boat Championship winning his first race and finishing second and third in the next two to win the championship. In 2006 he won the Class 3, 6 litre World and Middle East Championships alongside Matteo Nicolini. He is a marine engineer by profession. |
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| Abdullah Al Mehairbi (UAE) |
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| Victory 7 |
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Driver
Date of Birth:
07/07/1977
Place
of Birth: Dubai, UAE
Residence:
Dubai
Abdullah becomes the newest recruit from a list of talented young drivers to join the Victory Team. He has competed in traditional wooden powerboat racing and the Middle East Jet-Ski and Class 3, 6litre Championships, and after extensive pre-season testing, stepped up to make Class 1 debut in Doha. |
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| Arif Saif Al Zafeen (UAE) |
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| Victory 1 |
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Driver
Date of Birth:
01/09/1974
Place
of Birth: Dubai, UAE
Residence:
Dubai
Arif made a spectacular start to his Class 1 career last season - winning on his debut in Athens, lifting the European Championship after wins in Arendal and Mamaia and taking a fourth win in Qatar to cap a remarkable season, becoming the Class 1 World Powerboat Champion in his ‘rookie’ season. Arif made his competitive debut almost 15 years ago in wooden powerboat racing, joining the Victory Team with an impressive track record, competing in the UAE Formula 2000 Circuit Racing Championship, winning the title in 1997/1998 and 1998/1999 and in recent seasons competed in the President’s Cup Formula 2000 Championship. |
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| Bard Eker (Norway) |
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| Negotiator 50 |
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Driver
Date of Birth:
03/10/1961
Place
of Birth: Fredrikstad, Norway
Residence:
Fredrikstad
Bard made his Class 1 debut in 2004 as owner-driver of Hydrolift, switching to take over as throttleman mid-season. A mixed debut year saw Bard score two top six finishes and take third place in the Iberian Trophy. In 2005, he took over the wheel as owner-driver of Spirit of Norway, taking wins in Plymouth, Trondheim, Doha and Dubai to win the Class 1 World Championship and six out of seven pole wins to take the Pole Position Championship. He is an award-winning Industrial Designer, as well as a fanatical motorcycle racer who has competed in the Norwegian and Swedish road racing championships. He is Chairman of Eker Design, Project Design and Hydrolift. He joined Chris Parsonage Racing in 2007. |
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| Bjorge Jacobsen (Norway) |
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| Jotun 90 |
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Driver
Date of Birth:
14/08/1968
Place
of Birth: Fredrikstad (Norway)
Residence:
Fredrikstad
Bjorge (BJ) made his powerboat racing debut in 1988 in the Norwegian Championships competing in Class 3, 1.3litre and OCR classes winning the OCR and 1.3litre world titles in 1993. He has also competed in C24 and Class 3, 4&6litre and made his Class 1 debut in 2004. |
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| Chris Parsonage (England) |
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| Negotiator 50 |
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Throttleman
Date of Birth:
05/05/1958
Place
of Birth: Chester, England
Residence:
Liskeard
Chris made an impressive Class 1 debut in Lisbon, Portugal in 2004 as owner-driver, taking third spot and going on to grab a further three top six finishes. In 2005, he upped the stakes to finish on the podium twice, take four top six finishes, fourth overall in the title race and third in the Middle East Championship. In 2006, he switched to take the throttles and took his first pole position win in Arendal. His passion for powerboat racing was fuelled in Offshore Circuit Racing and subsequently as the promoter and organiser of the Class 1 British Powerboat Grand Prix in Plymouth. |
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| Domenico 'Mimmo' Cirilli (Spain) |
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| #88 |
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Throttleman
Date of Birth:
08/01/1960
Place
of Birth: Rome, Italy
Residence:
Alicante, Spain
Domenico started racing in 1987, winning the Italian Class 3 Championship in 1988 and finishing runner-up in the European and World Championships a year later. He made his Class 1 debut in 1990 and over the next four years competed in over 40 races, winning the Class 1 World Championship for diesel-powered boats in Paul & Shark in 1992. In 1998 and 1999 he entered the Nice-Cannes-Monte Carlo Raid and in 2001 returned to race in Class 3, 4litre, winning the Italian, European and World Championship a year later. He finished runner-up in the Endurance Championship in 2003 and returned to Class 1 action in Alicante in 2004, finishing fifth overall in the championship and sixth in 2005. In 2006 he won pole position and finished second in the Spanish Grand Prix in Garrucha and took third in Slovenia. |
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| Giampaolo Montavoci (Italy) |
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| Foresti & Suardi 8 |
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Throttleman
Date of Birth:
10/12/1959
Place
of Birth: Venice, Italy
Residence:
Venice
Giampaolo made his racing debut in 1983 in Class 3, 2litre and his Class 1 debut in 1998 in St Petersburg with Giorgioffshore. He won the Italian Class 3, 4litre title in 1995 and the S-2 European title in 1999. In 1997 he established the ‘Associazione Motonautica Venezia’, an innovative association working to introduce environmentally friendly products and technologies into the marine racing world. In 2002 he created Veneta Marina with pilots and boats competing in Class 1, Class 3, Endurance, Wet-byke and Pleasure Navigation. He took his first Class 1 pole position win and podium in Garrucha in 2006 and second podium in Slovenia. |
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| Giorgio Manuzzi (Italy) |
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| Seveneleven 18 |
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Driver
Date of Birth:
20/05/1964
Place
of Birth: Cesena, Italy
Residence:
Cesena
Giorgio’s first experience of Class 1 action was a ‘baptism of fire’, taking the wheel to partner Nicola in the roughest race of 2007 at the Egyptian Grand Prix in Porto Marina. He took his second outing in Dubai and this year takes the wheel for his first full season in Class 1. |
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| HE Sheikh Hassan Bin Jabor Al-Thani (Qatar) |
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| Qatar 96 |
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Driver
Date of Birth:
20/07/1968
Place
of Birth: Doha, Qatar
Residence:
Doha
HE Sheikh Hassan became the first Qatari to win a Class 1 Grand Prix, taking his maiden victory in Oslo in 2004 and his second a year later in Trondheim, going on to win the European title. He finished third in the World Championships in 2005 and 2007, and has taken 16 podium finishes and 3 Pole Position wins. Pursuing his interest in marine motorsport he competed in Jet Ski racing from 1995 to 2000, becoming involved with the Qatar Marine Sports Federation in 1999 and in 2002 he took over as team manager for the Qatar F2000 team. He became President of the QMSF in 2003 and formed Team Qatar 96, taking his first Pole Position win and first podium finish in Dubai. Sheikh Hassan is the President of IOTA. |
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| Jean Marc Sanchez (France) |
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| Victory 7 |
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Throttleman
Date of Birth:
27/03/1961
Place
of Birth: St Tropez, France
Residence:
Dubai, UAE
In 2007 Jean-Marc became the first Frenchman to win the Class 1 World and European Championships. He started racing in Class 1 in 1984 with Didier Pironi’s Leader outfit, making his competitive Class 1 debut in 1987 alongside Pironi in Collibri. In 1989 he joined forces with Italian Team Rainbow and in 1991 transferred to Achilles Motors. He joined Victory team in 1993 as a mechanic, becoming Crew Chief for Khalfan Harib and Ed Colyer in 1994, later taking over duties as the team’s test driver. He made an impressive return to racing in 2004, taking five podium finishes and third overall in the title race with Mohammed Al Marri and the following year lifted the Middle East title and finished runner-up in the world title race – a feat he repeated in 2006. Jean-Marc has won eight Grand Prix, finished on the podium 17 times and won, one Pole Position. |
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| Jerome Brarda (France) |
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| Windmare 21 |
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Driver
Date of Birth:
26/04/1964
Place
of Birth: Paris, France
Residence:
Fort Lauderdale, USA
Powerboat racing and Motor racing are Jerome’s two big passions. He made his European powerboat debut back in 1986 in the ‘open class’ before heading to race in the USA, teaming up with TV celebrity, Don Johnson, to race in the Superboat series for Team USA and more recently in 2007 competed in the American Supercat Series. |
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| Jorn Tandberg (Norway) |
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| Jotun 90 |
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Throttleman
Date of Birth:
15/03/1964
Place
of Birth: Larvik, Norway
Residence:
Larvik
Following a successful debut racing season in ProVee in 2004, taking two podium finishes and the Norwegian title, Jorn grabbed the European title a year later. He moved into Class 1 in 2005 as throttleman and co-owner of Ugland Offshore Racing, taking his first podium at the Norwegian Grand Prix in Trondheim in 2005 and his first Pole Position win in Dubai. His first race win came in Arendal in 2006. |
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| Kolbjorn O. Selmer (Norway) |
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| Foresti & Suardi 8 |
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Driver
Date of Birth:
04/12/1976
Place
of Birth: Trondheim, Norway
Residence:
Trondheim
Kolbjorn made his first Class 1 appearance in Oslo last year, testing alongside Giampaolo Montavoci, before moving into the driver’s seat for his Class 1 race debut with Domenico Cirilli at the Romanian Grand Prix, taking his best finish, fifth place in the Egyptian Grand Prix. His powerboat experience includes competing in Poker runs, the Norwegian National ProVee Championship and the V1 class. Kolbjorn is a keen skier and Motocross rider, the founder of the Trondheim Powerboat Club and was the Technical Organiser of the Class 1 Grands Prix in Trondheim in 2005. |
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