LUCAS OIL POWERBOAT P1 TEAM – PLAN C
It’s been a hectic few weeks for Nigel Hook. Fresh off the tumultuous end of the Powerboat P1 race in Sweden, he recovered from the barrel roll that totaled the new Outerlimits 43, put together a new deal for #77 Lucas Oil Outerlimits to race in Sicily with Belgian Nico Huybens in his 2007 Outerlimits SV 40, and has now moved to Plan C.
Logistics for racing internationally is complicated and after an intense work week, preparing for Sicily, it was decided late on Saturday, September 5, that the 40’ Outerlimits would not be “race ready” by the following day’s road trip to the port. The ever-resourceful and optimistic Hook then dusted off his 2008 boat which has been in storage in Belgium since it last raced in the Powerboat P1 2008 season finale in Portugal.
“Nico did everything he could to get the boat ready for Sicily, but there were some parts he couldn’t get at the last minute. People have no idea how difficult it is to do all these kinds of race preparations from a continent away—we’re in California, the boat factory is in Rhode Island and the engine was in New York and we’ve been on the phone with Belgium at 3 AM (since they are 6 hours ahead), to see about helping them with their needs!” stated Hook. He also added that he and Huybens were in close communication and are in total agreement about their race plans for Sicily.
For Huybens, who spent the 2009 season on the sidelines because his original Belgian crew had disbanded and become the Fountain Furnibo team, the offer was too good to refuse. “I tried everything possible to end this season as the #77 Lucas Oil Outerlimits,” said Hook, “But at this stage of the game, I think we’re lucky to have a boat to race!”
Hook and his team’s challenges included a breakdown in France of the truck towing the boat on Sunday night and then another road accident where an auto hit and damaged the trailer in Italy on Monday afternoon. Luckily, it was not far from Rome where the boat was headed for shipment to Sicily, so now with Plan C in place, Hook will head for Italy and meet Huybens for some intense testing on Thursday and Friday.
“There’s no telling how it is going to run, but this is a real testimony to our commitment to race with P1 and to our sponsor Lucas Oil—it’s incredible that we’ve put it together! I can’t wait to get back into the midst of things!” Hook added, “Nico is a good racer and who knows? It might just develop into a new opportunity for next year—it would be good to have a partner in Europe!”
Stay tuned for the ever-evolving Powerboat P1 tale of the season finale of the World Championship at the Sicilian Grand Prix, September 11-13. Listen to the pre-race count-down and live action on
www.p1radio.com starting Wednesday, September 9 and look for race updates at
www.powerboatp1.com.
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