Spirit of Qatar Team set for American challenge

[Serious News]

COCOA BEACH, Florida: The Spirit of Qatar Team, which runs under the auspices of the Qatar Marine Sports Federation (QMSF), gets its 2014 challenge for power boating honours underway in the United States of America this weekend.

Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor Al Thani and British throttleman Steve Curtis will not race themselves, although there will be a two-boat Spirit of Qatar team present at the second round of Superboat International (SBI) at Cocoa Beach in Florida on May 16 to 18.

The QMSF will be represented by Qatar’s Ali Al Neama and American throttleman Billy Moore and well known Qatari rally driver and Olympic skeet shooter Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah with his Italian racing partner Matteo Nicolini.

“We are planning to do four or five races this season including the finale to the year in Key West,” said Sheikh Hassan.

“Steve and I will be running turbines in Al Adaa’am 96, but it seems we will not be ready for Cocoa Beach. We will continue to run the three Spirit of Qatar Team boats later in the season. Nasser has got the new 1650 engines in his boat now (Spirit of Qatar 613) and should be very fast this year.

“Ali and Billy will race in Spirit of Qatar 20 and they have an upgraded boat and should also be very competitive in the Superboat category. The plan is to run in the same three classes as last year. The guys have already tested the 613 and 20 boats during the close season and all reports were very positive. It’s now time to carry out the real test, which is racing! The target is victory in all three classes and, of course, Marc Granet (Miss Geico) is the most wanted of them all…” Sheikh Hassan also confirmed the QMSF’s new luxury Cigarette VIP boat that was displayed at the Miami boat show is now ready and will appear as the team’s support vessel in Cocoa Beach.

Globetrotting rally driver Al Attiyah will join up with the Spirit of Qatar Team straight after competing in the WRC Rally of Argentina, which finished at Vila Carlos Paz, near Cordoba, on Sunday. The Qatari won a cross-country rally in his home country three weeks ago, beat a quality field to win the Jordan Rally two weeks ago and then headed off to Argentina.

In the absence of the Spirit of Qatar Team, 30 boats lined up in the various classes at round one in Charlotte Harbour last month. Tor Staubo and John Tomlinson, in their 48-foot MTI Gasse, won the Superboat Unlimited opener once leader CMS ran out of fuel.

A high-speed drive shaft failure sidelined Marc Granet in Miss Geico on lap one, but he collected 420 points for his efforts.

Team Stihl’s new pairing of J R Noble and throttleman Mark Kowalski drew first blood in the race for the Superboat title, with Broadco, WHM Motorsports and Cleveland Construction rounding off the top four in the absence of Al Neama and Moore.

Sheikh Hassan is aware that adverse weather conditions and strong winds are often prevalent at Cocoa Beach. He was not able to compete in 2013 either, but Ali Al Neama and throttleman Mohammed Al Nasser represented the Spirit of Qatar Team and finished a solid fifth overall in the Superboat class, where victory fell to William Mauff and Jay Muller in WHM Motorsports.

The weekend’s timetable gets underway with registration and inspections on May 16.

The first race for the smaller class boats starts at noon (19.00hrs Qatar time) on May 18 and the Spirit of Qatar boats take to the water for the second race from 2pm (21.00hrs Qatar time).

The Peninsula

http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/sports...irit-of-qatar-team-set-for-american-challenge

 

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[Serious News]

Sheikh Hassan misses out on Superboat Unlimited win in thrilling Cocoa Beach race

His Excellency Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor Al-Thani replaced Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and sat alongside Italian throttleman Matteo Nicolini to steer Spirit of Qatar 613 to second position in a thrilling Superboat Unlimited race at the 5th Space Coast Super Boat Grand Prix off Cocoa Beach in Florida on Sunday.

The Spirit of Qatar 613 pairing became embroiled in a stunning duel with American arch rivals, Marc Granet and Scott Begovich, in Miss Geico 113 and the pair traded turns, momentum and rooster tails for 11 of the 13 laps, before Granet edged in front of a slowing Qatar boat over the closing two laps to reach the chequered flag in first position.

Qatar’s Ali Al-Neama and American throttleman Billy Moore were entered in the hotly contested Superboat category and reached the finish in third position after a solid performance. Victory fell to J. R. Noble and Mark Kowalski in Team Stihl US-1. They were pushed all the way by early leaders WHM Motorsports.

“It was a fantastic race to be a part of, but the engines kept switching into ‘guardian mode’ at crucial times, especially after the fourth lap and, every time we wanted to push a little harder, we did not have the power at the crucial time,” said Sheikh Hassan, president of the Qatar Marine Sports Federation (QMSF) and driver of Spirit of Qatar 613.

“We backed off a little over the last two laps, but we are delighted with the progress the team has made. We will assess the engine data and make sure that this boat is ready for Nasser to drive in Sarasota. He will love these engines. As far as the turbine boat is concerned, we are on track and should have the engines ready in the coming week or so to ensure that Steve (Curtis) and I are raring to go in Al-Adaa’am 96 for Sarasota.”

Qatari rally driver/boat racer Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah was forced to miss the race after deciding to continue his rallying challenge for the 2014 FIA World Cup for Cross Country Rallies at the Pharoans Rally in Egypt.



Race 2 – Cocoa Beach

The second of the day’s two races featured Superboat and Superboat Unlimited entrants, who were set to tackle 13 laps of the 5.5-mile course for a total race distance of 71.5 miles. Blustery conditions were prevalent with winds on the Atlantic coast ranging from 18-22mph and blowing from an east-south-easterly direction.

Sheikh Hassan lined up with Matteo Nicolini in the twin-1650 Mercury-engined Victory hull, Spirit of Qatar 613, to take on Lucas Oil Silverhook 77 and arch rivals, Granet and Begovich, in the Superboat Unlimited class.

Ali Al-Neama and Billy Moore entered Spirit of Qatar 20 in the Superboat class alongside US-1 Team Stihl, 05 Broadco, 5 WHM Motorsports, 33 Autonation-Racing for Cancer and 38 Warpaint, with Instigator 22 the sole entrant in Superboat Extreme.

Sheikh Hassan and Nicolini made a superb start and pulled away from Miss Geico through the opening lap and began the second tour with a useful lead. Lucas Oil Silverhook slowed and dropped at least a lap, as Team Stihl pulled into a comfortable lead in Superboats and shadowed Miss Geico into lap two. WHM Motorsports, Spirit of Qatar 20, Broadco and Warpaint followed in their wake.

Granet began to apply immense pressure on Sheikh Hassan through lap two and the two racers were side-by-side into the final turn, but the Qatar driver shut the door in spectacular fashion and forced his American rival to run wide and maintained the lead, much to the delight of a massive vocal crowd. Team Stihl kept the lead in Superboat, but Broadco lost time in the turn.

Lap three was a carbon copy of the second one, with Granet and Begovich leaping spectacularly down the back straight and maintaining the outside line through traffic. But Sheikh Hassan held on to the lead and Team Stihl continued to lead in Superboats from WHM Motorsports.

Miss Geico managed to edge into a lead of several seconds on lap four after Spirit of Qatar 613’s Mercury engines switched into ‘guardian mode’ and the American reached the final turn with the choice of line. Granet and Begovich turned in well and began to pull away from Spirit of Qatar 613. WHM Motorsports was also running well and managed to pass Team Stihl and take the Superboat lead. Spirit of Qatar 20 was third.

Miss Geico and Spirit of Qatar 613 held station through lap five and there were no changes to the top four through the sixth tour. Granet and Sheikh Hassan completed lap seven neck-and-neck but Granet maintained the lead through the left-hand turn and Sheikh Hassan levelled down the straight as the thrilling contest continued. WHM led from Team Stihl and Spirit of Qatar 20 in Superboats.

Miss Geico held the edge over Spirit of Qatar 613 into lap nine and Team Stihl found a way past WHM to lead again in Superboats. Granet and Begovich extended their advantage into lap 10 and maintained the lead into the 11th lap, as Team Stihl stayed out in front of WHM.

Miss Geico was not to be denied and headed into the final lap with a good lead from a slowing Spirit of Qatar 613. Granet and Begovich held on to the chequered flag after lapping Broadco to give the host nation the early bragging rights in the much-vaunted boating battle between Qatar and the USA. Lucas Oil Silverhook retired after five laps.

Team Stihl held on to beat WHM, Spirit of Qatar 20, Broadco, Warpaint and Autonation-Racing for Cancer in the Superboat class.

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[Ratickle]

Super Boat International – positions after Cocoa Beach (race 2):


Superboat Unlimited

1. Miss Geico 113 967 pts
2. Lucas Oil Silverbrook 77 911 pts
3. Gasse 8 558 pts
4. CMS 3 507 pts
5. Spirit of Qatar 613 496 pts



Superboat


1. Stihl US-1 1109 pts
2. WHM Motorsports 5 961 pts
3. Broadco 05 920 pts
4. Automation-Racing for Cancer 33 680 pts
5. Spirit of Qatar 20 453 pts
6. Cleveland Construction 4 421 pts
7. Warpaint 38 375 pts