ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates - Tuesday, March 30, 2010 – The 2010 UIM F1 H2O World Championship for power boating is still well over one month away with the opening round set for the 12th Annual Grand Prix of Portugal, on the 8th and 9th of May and already the lead driver and the team that won the 2008 World Championship has shown how very serious they are about getting the glory back as they completed testing on the Arabian Gulf last week in Doha, Qatar.
Jay Price, the veteran driver from the USA who finished a disappointing fourth in the title a year ago with 125 points despite winning four times and reaching the podium in all seven races he completed last year, has stated this is the season he wants to return to number one again.
“In over 25 years of racing, 2009 had to be my must frustrating,” said the driver from New Orleans, Louisiana. “We beat ourselves and if one word is going to state the obvious this upcoming season, it will be “consistency”. My crew worked so hard and got so little back in return with five mechanical failures, two crashes, one race penalty and one failure to start because of an electrical fire, we knew we had to plan early this year to make sure these same things didn't happen in 2010.”
The Qatar Marine Sports Federation (QMSF) organization led by their President His Excellency Sheikh Hassan Bin Jabor Al-Thani, day to day Head of Formula Racing Khalid Bin Arhama Al-Kuwari and Team Manager Mohammed Al Ali planned for almost a week of preparation and testing with their ex-World Champion to get the “bugs” out while testing the latest equipment with engine guru Brendan Power coming over from Florida along with partial crew members to establish and test trial both the boat and the power plant.
“The testing and preparation leading up to the testing, allowed us to refine a lot of the systems we would not normally have time to work on during a race weekend,” said Khalid.
“Whilst the component testing was not a complete success, we learned a lot from the testing and we will take all that knowledge and experience with us to Portugal so that we can get the campaign in the right direction to win back the world title off to a perfect start. The testing also allowed Jay to spend some time in the boat and allowed part of the team to ensure that we had all the necessary equipment on hand ready for Portugal.”
Price, who now has seven career victories and is tied with Finnish driver and 2007 World Champion Sami Selio along with Michael Werner of Germany for eighth place all time in the victory column in the three decade history of the sport.
“Right now I feel I am at the top of my game and can compete this season for another title,” said Jay. “Probably the thing I am most proud of is the fact that in over the last two seasons other than one race that I was penalized I have earned either first or second in 14 straight races in a row that I have finished. That is an ongoing record I am well pleased with and I have to salute my crew for making this possible. Hopefully in 2010 we can increase that number and chase a title at the same time.”
Price is welcoming back another veteran to the fold in British driver Andy Elliott who is coming back from an injury he suffered last August at the Grand Prix of Russia and is looking forward to starting his 18th year and his 137th career start in F1. Andy, who has been a runner-up in the championship, will be looking to be adding to his two career victories and his first with the Qatar Team.
The multi-national Qatar Team brings together a great mix of drivers, crew members and administrative personnel that come from three different continents, armed with a new attitude and a new paint sceme on their boats aiming with one common goal to win fame and glory with a UIM F1 H2O World Championship title and a giant comeback in 2010!
Be In The Know – With F1 H2O!
