12:27 AM Fri 5 Dec 2008 GMT
Dubai's Victory Team stand poised to lift their eighth World Championship in this weekend's Mina Seyahi Grand Prix, the penultimate race of the season, but will err on the side of caution, knowing that they do not need the win to wrap up the title. 'Getting to the end of the race is vital and if we do that we are in a very good position.' said Victory's general manager, Gianfranco Venturelli. 'Our focus is, of course, the World Championship and our strategy is simple. The instruction to both crews is to run a clever race, not to get involved in a fight for the win, and above all, not to take any risks.'
Victory 1's Mohammed Al Marri and Nadir Bin Hendi lead the title race by 15 points and know their biggest threat comes from their team-mates, Abdullah Al Mehairbi and Jean-Marc Sanchez, but Venturelli has said that there are no real team orders. 'They have to be sensible and must not fight each other,' he said. 'The Victory 7 crew knows that Victory 1 has the best chance of winning the title and must not put any obstacles in their way.'
For Victory's rivals the target is to fight each other for the race win, and in today's first official practice session it was Qatar 95's Abdullah Al-Sulaiti and Matteo Nicolini, currently lying in third place in the Championship standings and a point ahead of their team-mates, who posted the fastest time of 2m 53.10s on their one and only timed lap, with Victory 1 and 7, second and third quickest respectively. 'This was our first chance to run our new Sterling engines and to go quickest is very encouraging. Although they have the same power, the power-curve is better, and this will make us very competitive,' said Matteo Nicolini.
Jotun's Inge Brigt Aarbakke and Jorn Tandberg used the session primarily to shake down a new pair of Mercury V8s and to give Aarbakke, racing in Dubai for the first time, an opportunity to familiarise himself with the course.
Despite posting the fifth fastest time, Foresti & Suardi's Giampaolo Montavoci was far from happy with the performance from his new propellers and struggled to find the pace he was expecting. Spirit of Spain completed the top six before cutting their session short after breaking a water hose, with team-mates Al Suwaidi and Abdelkader Ahmed going eighth quickest in Roscioli Hotels Roma.
Wild card entry Maritimo unveiled their new Class 1 raceboat, with Tom Barry-Cotter and Pal Virik Nilsen shaking it down for the first time. 'There was no need to push it out there. Today was all about getting a feel for the boat and to understand how she handles,' said Tom. 'She is very light, very flighty and a little tricky to handle in the turns. I think we will add some weight at the front, but what we need now is time in the boat.'
For Sheikh Hassan and Steve Curtis the weekend got off to a bad start, with Qatar 96 failing to record a time after a loss of power caused by electrical problems. SeveneleveN and Negotiator also failed to start the session, with the Negotiator crew carrying out repairs to internal structural damage sustained in Egypt.
First official practice:
1. Qatar 95 - A Al-Sulaiti (QAT) / M Nicolini (ITA) - 02.53,10
2. Victory 1 - M Al Marri (UAE) / N Bin Hendi (UAE) - 02.56.01
3. Victory 7 - A Al Mehairbi (UAE) / JM Sanchez (FR) - 02.57,73
4. Jotun 90 - IB Aarbakke (NOR) / J Tandberg (NOR) - 02.58,12
5. Foresti & Suardi 8 - K Selmer (NOR) / G Montavoci (ITA) - 03.03,76
6. Spirit of Spain 88 - S Carrasco (ESP) / G Carpitella (ITA) - 03.08,56
7. Maritimo 11 - T Barry-Cotter (AUS) / PV Nilsen (NOR) - 03.12,34
8. Roscioli Hotels Roma 60 - M A Ahmed (ESP) / A Al Suwaidi (UAE) - 03.30,51
SeveneleveN 18 - G Manuzzi (ITA) / N Giorgi (ITA) - dns
Negotiator 50 - C Parsonage (GB) / W Moore (US) - dns
Qatar 96 - H Al-Thani (QAT) / S Curtis (GB) - dns
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