São Paulo – Brazilian speedboat driver Lebos Ribeiro Chaguri is seeking to make possible his participation in the Formula 1 H2O Nations Cup, a speedboat championship to take place on November 22, in Doha, Qatar, and on December 4, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Chaguri, who is the son of a Lebanese father, has dual nationality and will compete for Lebanon. Over the last two years, he competed for Brazil, but the country will not have a team in the competition in 2013. “There will be two boats per country,” said the driver, to ANBA.
The races take place in circuits marked by floats, in the sea or in lakes, and the highlight is the speed. A boat in the category may reach 200 kilometres per hour.
“I usually say that a boat going at 200 kilometres an hour is similar to a car at 400 km an hour on a race track,” said Chaguri, adding that, in the case of boats, the “track” is much “choppier”.
To try to guarantee sponsorship, he is seeking companies interested in exhibiting their brands internationally, as despite the championship taking place in Arab counties, it is an international competition, with press coverage over the world. The driver says he needs to raise around R$ 50,000 (US$ 22,600) and, in case he cannot, he is studying the possibility of covering the expenses from his own pocket.
Chaguri pointed out that coverage of the sport is growing in Brazil. The World Championship in the category, which has six phases, in different countries, was in Brasília this year, with a race in Paranoá Lake. The races are broadcast by Rede TV! and the driver himself comments on them.
The differences between the World Championship and the Nations Cup is that the former takes place between drivers and teams, with each one preparing the boat and engines, while the latter is a competition between countries and the boats and engines are the same for all. Chaguri participates in the Nations Cup and plans to participate in the World Championship too, next year.
The races in Doha and Abu Dhabi should mark the driver’s return to racing, after an accident in 2012, in Khor Fakkan, also in the Emirates, which resulted in nine months recovering from injuries. “I am better now,” he pointed out.
Businessman Chaguri, aged 47, is a music producer, a foreign trade businessman and also has a long history in speed. In the 1980s, he raced motorcycles, in 2001 he started sailing and in 2008 he migrated to speed boats. He has won titles in different modalities, the latest being the São Paulo and Brazilian Speed Boat Championships in 2009. In the 2011 F1 H2O Nations Cup, he was among the “top ten”, and last year he was in 6th place in the qualification when he had his accident.
Contacts
Lebos Ribeiro Chaguri
Cel.: (+55 11) 9 8255 7550
E-mail: leboschaguri@hotmail.com
Site: www.leboschaguri.com
Further information about the sport
Nations Cup: www.cuph2o.com
World Cup: www.f1h2o.com
Rede TV!: www.redetv.com.br/esportes/f1h2o/
*Translated by Mark Ament
