100,000 race fans expected

Kota Kinabalu: Powerboat enthusiasts in the State are in for a big treat as Sabah will be hosting the F2000 World Cup Powerboat Race in December.

More than 20 drivers from all over the world, namely, UAE, Holland, Norway, France, Qatar, United Kingdom, Finland, Italy, Germany, US, Kuwait, Sweden, Portugal, Latvia, Morocco and others will be competing in the championship from Dec 1-2.

Powersports Event Sdn Bhd Managing Director, Ahmad Zachary Anifah Aman said the race is expected to draw some 100,000 spectators including foreigners, and will be widely broadcast by 21 international television channels worldwide.

Zachary said Sabah will be the final leg of the race, which was flagged off in Portugal on May 26-27 this year, followed by Latvia (Aug 18-19), Saudi Arabia (Oct 17-18) and UAE.

He said this during an inspection at the site for the competition together with Mayor Datuk Iliyas Ibrahim, here Thursday. The event will be held along the seafront from Anjung Selera to the open area behind the vegetable and handicraft market at Jalan Tun Fuad Stephens in Sinsuran.

Zachary said the main objective of hosting the race was to promote Malaysia as a premium tourist destination through sports.

”The hosting of the race in Sabah would bring tremendous benefits to Sabah in terms of political, economical, social integration and exchange of technical knowledge and interest in the event,” he explained.

Meanwhile, Iliyas said the hosting of the event was timely in view of the Visit Malaysia 2007 campaign and the country’s 50th Anniversary celebration this year.

He expressed confidence that the race, a favourite royal race in the Middle East, would provide Sabahans with a lifetime’s experience of the fast and exciting world of powerboat racing right at their own doorstep.

”I hope this event would not be the first and the last, but a beginning to another tourism event for Sabah,” he added.

Daily Express