Turkish Grand Prix: 13th / 16th June – advanced notice.

The provisional ‘Advanced Notice’ has been released for the Turkish Grand Prix at Istanbul from the 13th – 16th June 2013.

Inevitably, plans and times will change slightly, but it certainly looks like its going to be a great event. Any further news, and we’ll keep you posted.

ZaboRacing regroup after China setbacks

Wednesday, 10 April: Class-1 website

It is all hands on deck for personnel of Norwegian-Turkish outfit Zabo Racing as they now regroup following two major setbacks in and after the Sanya Grand Prix, and face a race against the clock to be ready for round two in Istanbul in June.

A crash in race 2 left the Victory built, Mercury-powered Zabo-Isiklar in bad shape, their misery compounded days later when a fire gutted their workshop destroying all its contents. “The work to get us back on the water started immediately in Sanya, but the fire complicated the situation.” said team owner Jan Zaborowski. “The big issue we face now is the time to ship from China to Istanbul and whether or not a new deck can be shipped there in time.”

The team is looking at two options; for a new deck to be made in Dubai by Victory Team and – time permitting – shipped to Istanbul to drop onto the boat, but time is again a factor. The second option is to carry out all the work and repairs at Ugur Isik’s workshop in Tuslr. “The work itself will take about two to three weeks and that will be with two crews from Norway and Turkey working 24/7 around the clock.

“The left side of the boat took the big hit. We have to cut out all the damage around the engine bay and the deck, make moulds and start the rebuild. The top deck is the issue, but we have good fibreglassers, laminators and structural engineers and will get it done.


“We also have to do some repairs to the cockpit and although it held up well we will be making it even stronger, even if this means adding more weight.

“The solution for the workshop and content is simple, we have to buy a new one and replace everything.”

ZaboRacing workshop destroyed.

Tuesday, 2 April: Class-1 website


Despite the edge being taken off two brilliant performances by Ugur Isik and Christian Zaborowski in qualifying and in race 1 in the Sanya Grand Prix by the first corner barrel-role exit in race 2, the team’s weekend has been further compounded after a fire destroyed their workshop truck.
The incident happened [last night] as the Class 1 road convoy headed from Sanya to Haikou ahead of shipping to Istanbul, Turkey for rounds two and three.

The convoy of vehicles was forced to slow after a crash involving the trailer carrying the Nor-Tech start boat and a car.
As the driver of the Zabo-Racing workshop pulled over flames suddenly engulfed the vehicle, and despite all efforts by members of the convoy to contain the fire, the truck and all its contents were completely destroyed.