Double victory in the previous rounds ensures the Italian Racing Project heads the line-up.
An impressive SuperSport double victory in the previous P1 World Championship round in Naples has ensured that the Italian Racing Project team will line-up for the German Grand Prix of the Sea this weekend just ahead of Extremeboat, the 2006 World Championship winners.
Travemunde, Germany, marks the half way point of the season following the Grand Prix in Malta and Italy and once again the racing on the water for the production class title is proving to be ultra competitive. Every one of the nine SuperSport teams has the ability to win. In Naples Sunseeker, powered by FPT engines, showed glimpses of its true potential as did the Maltese Chaudron team, VoomVoom.com and the Chinese Ocean Dragon. Led by throttleman and owner Martin Lai, Ocean Dragon is one of three teams to have previously won in Travemunde, along with Britain’s Buzzi Bullet and Extremeboat.
This year the racing will have a strong German interest with entries from Naue Racing, a ‘Wild Card’ for the German Grand Prix of the Sea, and Searex Germany, P1’s only German contender for the 2007 title. Starting with their ‘home’ event, Searex has confirmed that it will race in the Evolution Class for the remainder of the season, where the team will take on some of the world’s finest muscle machines with a 42ft Fountain powered by Mercury engines. Fellow Germans Fabian Kalsow and Anton Naue of Naue Racing will be looking to impress when they take on the might of Europe’s finest in the Supersport category with their Yanmar-powered Sunseeker XS2000.
In 2005, the Evolution Class winner of the P1 German Grand Prix went on to win the World Championship. It was a defining moment for the Austrian team, Wettpunkt.com, who until the Baltic event, had been second best to Team Sony. This season, after two Grand Prix events in Malta and Naples, Wettpunkt.com, under the command of P1’s most distinguished pilot, Hannes Bohinc, arrives in Travemunde as World Championship leader having secured three second place finishes in three races. As in 2005, the team will be looking for the win that could set it on its way to another world title, but unlike 2005, competitor numbers have doubled with most teams racing with new hulls and engines and with an intense desire for success.
The Italian challenge is once again led by 2006 champions and winners of this years opening Grand Prix in Malta, OSG, with the two Seatek powered Metamarine craft of Kiton and Fainplast in close contention. Fainplast owner and throttleman Marco Pennesi is no stranger to the top step of the Travemunde podium, having won a race last year, but the odds on a win next weekend have risen somewhat after another strong showing in Naples from the US team, Outerlimits Powerboats, and an exhilarating debut performance from Fountain Worldwide. Its King of Shaves, in the hands of Craig Wilson and James Sheppard, took back-to-back victories to win the Grand Prix of the Sea and let the competition know that whatever the outcome in Travemunde, Germany, it will be a very close shave!
