THE KING'S BLOG

UIM CLASS 1 WORLD POWERBOAT CHAMPIONSHIP QATAR GRAND PRIX, DOHA KING OF SHAVES LOOKS IMPRESSIVE IN QATAR. Courtesy Nigel Quilter, Q4 Media. Saturday, 29 April, DOHA (Qatar): King of Shaves, throttled by team owner, Chris Parsonage and driven by James Sheppard, the first all British Team to compete in the Class 1 World Powerboat Championship for over a decade produced an impressive performance in Saturday's Qatar Grand Prix finishing fourth, posting notice that they will be title challengers this season. Parsonage, with Sheppard making his Class 1 debut and racing together in Class 1 for the first time were on the pace from the start, going third quickest in two out of three practice sessions and then pushing the defending World Champions, Spirit of Norway to the limit in qualifying, finishing second, completing the 5.13Nm lap in a time of 3mins 01.87secs. "I can't believe it - they were two of the fastest laps I've driven in my short time in a Class 1," said an elated Sheppard. "Chris did a fantastic job on the throttles, balanced the boat well never backed off even when we had one or two flighty moments - brilliant start for the team." But on race day, it was, Spirit of Norway's Bjorn Rune Gjelsten and Steve Curtis who produced a commanding performance to complete the double, going quickest in qualifying and winning the Qatar Grand Prix ahead of their arch rivals Victory 77 and Qatar 96. Gjelsten and Curtis took full advantage of being in pole position, leading from the start to get to the first turn buoy ahead of the chasing pack and from then on controlled the race, extending their lead lap by lap, going on to win the 18 lap. 93.36Nm Qatar Grand Prix by 12 seconds ahead of Mohammed Al Marri and Jean Marc Sanchez in Victory 77 and HE Sheikh Hassan Bin Jabor Al Thani and Matteo Nicolini in Qatar 96. With Spirit of Norway disappearing off into the distance, the battle for podium honours was fought out between Victory 77, Qatar 96 and King of Shaves, the three holding station before Qatar 96 peeled off to take both their two mandatory long laps consecutively, elevating King of Shaves to third. By lap 12, the leading posse of four boats had all completed their long laps with the running order restored and Victory 77 going on to finish second ahead of Qatar 96 and King of Shaves. "We've had a good solid start to the season. The race wasn't going to be won on the first corner and the championship won't be decided in the first race," said Parsonage. "The conditions were too flat, didn't suit our boat which is slightly heavier than the others but I think we will benefit from the rougher conditions in Europe. We had a good set up and kept up a good pace. This is James' first season driving a Class 1 and my first season on the throttles - so it is a bit of a learning curve for both of us. We both made one or two mistakes but we know we can improve - overall a good start." Round two of the Class 1 World Powerboat Championship is in Doha on Thursday, 4 May.
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