In my article yesterday, 2019 UIM Calendar Dates, I mentioned that there was an ‘Open Secret’ within F1H2o and their teams, the Season Opener of the 2019 World Championship may well take place next month.

Although F1H2o and the UIM have still not officially announced the fixture, it is looking likely that the teams will be heading to Damman in Saudi Arabia for the first round of the Championship this season.

The end of March

The race date is penciled in for Saturday, March 30 – The F1H2o containers only returned from the UAE some weeks ago and will now have to be shipped back to the Middle East shortly.

This has put huge pressure on the teams who are readying their F1 and F4-s boats for the new season in a limited time frame. 

In fact, one team manager said, ‘It’s 3 months work in 20 days’!

Saudi Arabia

If the race does go ahead, it won’t be the first time that F1H2o have traveled to the Kingdom, the Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia was last held in 2004 at Sunset Beach when Scott Gillman won for the Emirates Team.

Dammam

When the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was founded in 1932, the area consisted of small villages with fishing being the main source of income.

Nearly 90 years later, Dammam has a population of over a million people and significant wealth due to the discovery of oil.

Just 20 miles from the city center is the King Fahd International Airport, the largest in the World in terms of land area, and there are direct flights to and from all the major hubs.

The area has malls populated with familiar western shops and restaurants, although the consumption of alcohol is forbidden in the Kingdom.

Still not confirmed

To reiterate, the event still has not been officially confirmed, however, the F1H2o logistics team were in Damman yesterday and the teams are preparing.

It has got to be good for the sport to see such a high profile venue partnering with the series.