SWEDISH driver Jonas Andersson won the opening round of the 2008 UIM F1 World Powerboat Championship by 1.76 seconds over Qatar Team driver Jay Price in the 5th annual Grand Prix of Qatar in Doha on Saturday.

The 33-year-old driver lost pole position at the start of the race to Team Abu Dhabi driver Thani Al Qamzi as the Emirates driver led until going out of the race on the 31st of 48 laps. This opened the door for Andersson to re-establish himself in the lead position and he never looked back holding off a charging Price to the final turn of the race.

Home team driver Price stayed within shouting distance of the leader all day, one time getting almost side by side with Andersson, before finally settling for second at the end of the afternoon.

Defending world Champion Sami Selio had his two-race winning streak broken with a 4th place finish, 23.25 seconds behind Andersson and five seconds behind 3rd-placed Bob Trask.

The next stop on the 2008 F1 championship tour will be the Grand Prix of Portugal in Portimao on the Algarve from May 3 to 4.(Han Ximin)