With less than two weeks to go before the opening round of the 2013 U.I.M F2 World Powerboat Championships those all important last minute touches are being carried out by The Royal Motorboat Club Racing section (KMKR) who will be welcoming competitors from eleven different countries to Sweden for the Stockholm Grand Prix.
This year there have been some subtle changes to the weekend’s format including holding the Grand Prix on the Saturday.
“When we spoke to the people at the Stockholm Visitor Board they suggested that we should try and hold the Grand Prix a day earlier” said Anders Stark, from the Organising Committee. “This way people staying in the city centre after watching the race would then spend their Sunday exploring the delights of Stockholm.”
Qualifying will now take place on Friday evening and before this commences a Thunder Cat VIP race will be taking place. Amongst the many stars lined up to race are members of the Swedish pop group Ace of Base, who have sold over 30 million albums worldwide along with stars from ice hockey and football.
“From mid-June until mid-July it’s never really getting dark here so that’s why we decided to start the Grand Prix at 7pm” said Officer of the day, Pelle Larsson. “We have had entries from twenty seven drivers which is incredible, over half of them are new to the F2 World Championship.”
Looking to secure another home win will be the reigning World and European Champion Erik Stark, who by his own admission made hard work of last years Stockholm Grand Prix. “I have mixed emotions about that race; I can honestly say that over that weekend I reach a real low point in my racing career. Then I drove one of the best races the following day to take the chequered flag. Those are the highs and lows of racing which is why we all do it.”
Stark will need to be at his very best if he’s to repeat his 2012 victory because this season Jonas Andersson, who won back to back World Championships in 2003 and 2004 has returned with his Azerbaijan backed team. If that battle isn’t enough to have the Swedes flocking to the Stockholm waterfront than throw into the mix Johan Osterberg, who has finished runner-up in the championship for the last two years, plus the fact that all three of these Swedish drivers are using the latest Molgaard hull then we are surely in for a mouth watering prospect at the opening round.
From Stockholm the race team’s boats and equipment will be shipped to Baku, the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan.
Taking place on the shores of the Caspian Sea, the 1810 metre course will certainly provide a challenge and the local organisers predict that the Seaside Boulevard, described as ‘the best place in Baku to take a walk and breath the fresh air’ will be packed with spectators all eager to watch the inaugural Republic of Azerbaijan powerboat race.
Azad Rahimov, Azerbaijan’s Minister for Youth and Sports is very keen to make Baku a regular fixture in the F2 calendar as his country, which only last year held the Eurovision Song Contest, bids to host more international sporting events, including the 2024 Olympic Games.
With all the teams equipment safely packed away it will then be transported to the heel of Italy for round three of the championship and another new venue in Brindisi on the Adriatic coast.
Brindisi was an Ancient Greek settlement predating the Roman expansion. The Latin name Brundisium comes from the Greek word Brentesion meaning “deer’s head”, which refers to the shape of the natural harbour where the race will take place.
After a hectic couple of months the teams then have a short break before heading to the UK and the National Watersports Centre at Holme Pierrepont near Nottingham. Using the world famous two kilometre Regatta Lake all the drivers will need to adopt a cautious approach if they are to survive the weekend after the fickle breeze that caught out Tommy Wahlsten and Malcolm Goodman left their race teams with a lot of late night repairs.
“Our event in 2012 from the promoters point of view was a huge success” said Jason Brewer, seen by many as the man behind the recent upsurge in UK circuit racing. “The aim was to re-establish ourselves at the HPP venue and provide a full two day program of events. Thankfully everything went very smoothly and it was a fantastic weekend. The HPP venue & our event partners were also extremely impressed with the show and are enthusiastic about our return.”
For 2013 they have added the GT15 World Championships to the F2 event as they firmly believe that the young drivers should be encouraged to compete on the international stage and what better way to ignite the passion for their future than doing it alongside the F2 World Championship.
“We are also inviting the GT30 & F4s national classes to the event to enhance the ‘on water’ entertainment program” continued Brewer, who’s Affinity Partnerships Ltd are dedicated to promoting racing from grass root level all the way up to top international racing as well as encouraging classes that are kind to the environment.
After some of the teams head back to Italy for the European Championships, taking place in Milan, the World Championship then heads to South Africa for the final round which is taking place in Sasolburg in the far north of the Free State province, just south of Johannesburg.
Established in 1954, the city was built by Sasol Ltd. to house employees at the world’s first oil-from-coal plant, producing commercial quantities of oil. Sasol and the Free State province are both heavily involved in the race which will take place on the Vaal River.
“By having the F2 race here in December I truly believe that it will be the catalyst to getting South Africa back on the powerboat racing world map” said Christo de Jager. For de Jager, who has been involved in South African powerboat racing since 2004, he, like the Azerbaijan race organisers, sees F2 as a long term project. Plans are already under way to have back to back races in South Africa as the finale to the 2014 World Championship. But first there is the little matter of making this year’s event a success whilst also overseeing his son’s progress throughout this years World Championship.
It will certainly be a very busy year for Wynand De Jager, who will not only compete at all of this years World Championship rounds racing the latest spec Baba hull but will also compete in his home series of six races, along with three in the Italian Championship, plus the European Championship. Add to that schedule the fact that he very recently became a father and you can well understand how excited he’s become about what could turn out to be the best F2 season yet.
