Norway’s Marit Strømøy will become the first woman to race in the Class 1 World Powerboat Championship in more than a decade at the season opener in Brazil later this month.

The former UIM F1 H2O World Championship driver, who is from Oslo, Norway, will join fellow Norwegians Jorn Tandberg, Kolbjorn Selmer and Italian Giorgio Manuzzi as part of the Welmax Offshore Racing team.

The 33-year-old driver, who spent the 2009 season with the Azerbaijan Team alongside teammate Jonas Andersson of Sweden and earned two Top 5 finishes, will make her debut in one of the team's two boats at the Brazilian Grand Prix in Rio de Janeiro, March 26-28. The two-boat lineup will see the team running MTI- and Maritimo-designed and built hulls, both powered by Mercury Racing engines, but the team said it won’t finalize its pairings until they arrive in Brazil.

This season Welmax Offshore Racing will be looking to build on an impressive 2009, which saw throttleman Tandberg team up with Selmer to enjoy a stellar first season together, taking five Grand Prix and two qualifying podiums to finish third overall in the World and Edox Pole Position Championship standings.

Strømøy made her racing debut in 1989 at age 12. In 1993 she started racing in S-550, winning the European Championship three times (1996, 1998, 1999) and the Nordic Championship twice (1996 and 1999). Then in 2000 she moved up to race in F-2000 and was voted Rookie of the Year, finishing second in the UAE Presidents Cup in 2002, second in the Nordic Championship in 2005 and third in the European Championship in 2007. She became the first woman to compete in the F1 H2O World Championship in 2007 and took third overall in the Team Cup in 2009. She also has competed in the legendary Rouen 24-hour race, finishing on the podium three times (second in 2009, and third in 2006 and 2007).

For more on the Class 1 World Championship and its opening round in Brazil, check out www.class-1.com.

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