Andrew Langdon of Buzzi Bullet 2 team puts his side of the story
Andrew Langdon of Buzzi Bullet Offshore Racing replies in response to being deemed ineligible for Supersports Class in Powerboat P1 offshore championship:
“We are disappointed with KBL’s decision to disqualify us from Powerboat P1 Supersports Category and on Thursday 6 July we lodged a formal appeal against this decision. We feel that Buzzi Bullet 2 is within the rules and is eligible for Supersports and are confident that our appeal will succeed.
One ground of appeal is that before buying Buzzi Bullet 2 we consulted Massimo Lippi, KBL’s Technical and Sporting Director, and provided the hull specifications to him by email and sought confirmation that the craft would be eligible for Supersports category. In reliance on Mr Lippi’s email in reply we proceeded to purchase and prepare Buzzi Bullet 2 for racing.
With, as we understand it, over 70 hulls made over the last ten years and more on order, we are therefore astounded that the Technical Compliance Committee (TCC) has come to the decision the craft is not a commercial production model.
We are also disappointed that we only received the KBL decision in writing on Thursday 29 June, the evening before the start of the German Grand Prix afterBuzzi Bullet 2 had already competed in the previous round of the P1 series.
We would also like to clarify that we applied for a High Court injunction to permit us to race in Germany pending our appeal against the TCC decision, in order to preserve the position on all sides so that if it was decided on appeal that Buzzi Bullet 2 was in fact eligible for Supersports we would be awarded points according to our positioning in Germany and Anzio, but if the appeal was dismissed, then no points would be awarded.
The High Court Judge made it clear that he was not determining the issue of whether or not Buzzi Bullet 2 actually qualified as a Supersports boat, but whether KBL should be ordered by injunction to permit us to compete. The injunction was refused on the basis of the contractual terms of the team entry agreement; the injunction was not decided on the merits of our technical eligibility for Supersports Category.”
Buzzi Bullet 2 pilot Drew Langdon went on to say, “Whilst we are confident that our boat is within the rules we are saddened that we have had to take court action and bring an appeal in what is, essentially, about having fun on the water. Powerboat racing is a great sport and one that we are proud to take part in but situations like this ought not to arise”.
