Run of bad luck ends for Richard Carr
The Powerboat P1 form book was thrown totally out of the window in the Evolution and SuperSport classes during the Vigo Grand Prix of the Sea on Saturday.
The British entered Honeyparty.com team finally put an end to their run of misfortune in the Evolution Sprint race, comfortably building up an early lead in the opening laps and extending it as the race went on. Team boss and throttleman, Richard Carr, said he knew it would only be a matter of time before the British-based crew won its first Powerboat P1 race.
“We had to turn the corner sooner or later,” said a delighted Carr. “A lot of work has gone into the boat this year and we always knew – based on our speed potential that victory would come sooner or later. The boat ran like an absolute dream.”
The reigning champion Fountain Worldwide boats.com crew had to be content with a second-place podium finish once again being unable to repeat their winning form from the first two events of the year. But throttleman Craig Wilson said he’s satisfied that the team are still well on course to possibly secure its second consecutive crown if it can score another solid finish on Sunday.
Belgian outfit Centaurian Yachts showed a new-found blinding pace, racing through the field to a podium finish, despite bogging down at the start and dropping to the back of the pack.
“It’s absolutely fantastic to have scored our best result of the year,” said crew member Pierre Colpin. “We’ve finally found the solution to the problems with the boat. As a result, it’s really working well and, although we’re still struggling a bit for acceleration out of the corners, but we’ve got great top speed.”
In the SuperSport class, there was heartbreak for the Baia High Performance crew and huge joy for the Conam Yachts, as a six-minute penalty for exceeding the 85mph average speed limit denied the OSG racing-run outfit its first win of the year.
The Baia High Performance team had briefly been the only contenders to have beaten the defending champion Conam Yachts on the water this year, but 12 timing infringements over the duration of the race netted them a six-minute penalty putting Conam Yachts at the top of the points table knock Baia High Performance down to fifth.
That change in result puts the Conam Yachts crew within ten points of repeating their 2007 SuperSport title. A points finish in Sunday’s Endurance race for the Italian team will put this year’s championship crown beyond the reach of the Microlink PC and Baia High Performance teams.
