DOHA, Qatar - Wednesday, November 25th, 2009 - Team Qatar’s preparations for this weekend’s Grand Prix of Qatar suffered a minor set-back when the ship containing the race boats and many of the spares was delayed between Khor Fakkan and Qatar.
According to Team Qatar’s Khalid Bin Arhama Al-Kuwari, Head of Formula Racing at the Qatar Marine Sports Federation (QMSF), the ship had been scheduled to arrive in Doha on November 20th, but was delayed because of poor weather en route and was supposed to dock in Qatar on Thursday morning (tomorrow). This meant that the team and race officials faced a race against time to prepare for the two races on Friday and Saturday.
The Qatar Team’s engine expert Brendan Power confirmed that three new engines have arrived in Qatar for Price’s boat and a further three power plants are currently in the container on the ship from Khor Fakkan to Doha.
“We air freighted three engines into Qatar for Jay’s boat and the rest of the spares are still at sea, so we have a slight delay with our preparations,” admitted Power. “We have new and improved engines, with some ‘top secret’ developments, specifically designed for the Doha race course. We just hope that we get enough time to get everything ready. Rushing our preparations is not ideal.”
Jay Price, the defending UIM F1 World Champion, arrived in Qatar on Monday and is hoping to score 40 points this weekend for a pair of race wins. “We’ve really struggled with luck this season and need that to change. We need to close the gap on the leaders in Qatar and put ourselves in a much stronger position before the last four races of the year in the UAE.”
The Qatar Grand Prix is being organised by the QMSF under the presidency of His Excellency Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor Al-Thani and the auspices of the UIM. Documentation and team registration will take place on Thursday, with practice, time trials and two races scheduled to take place on Friday and Saturday.
For further information: Neil Perkins, NDP Publicity Services, Mobile: + 44 7831 123153, E-mail: ndppublicity@googlemail.com. www.ndp-publicity.com (press releases).
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