Powerboat P1

U.S. RACING TEAMS COME TO VIGO SPAIN TO VISIT POWERBOAT P1

A group of U.S. racers are taking off for Vigo, Spain to investigate opportunities in the Powerboat P1 World Championship. Dave Branch of Sarasota, Florida’s Muscle Racing was the first to respond to the invitation to come to a P1 race to “test the waters.” In typical “Muscle Team” fashion, Branch “reached out” to fellow racers, challenging them to join him in the adventure. Other teams had expressed interest in what the Powerboat P1 circuit had to offer so Branch gave them the incentive to come along.

Dave Peterson of Black Pearl, Bill Glick of Hawaiian Tropic and Mark Slater of RLogic Racing will all come to Vigo for the second to the last race of the 200 Powerboat P1 World Championship. The racers are also bringing family members to share the experience and all will return to the States with stories about the differences between P1 and U.S. racing—just in time for the U.S. World Championships for both OSS and SBI/APBA.

“We are psyched for the trip!” says Branch who has stared-down many an adventure, including a collision that spared him last weekend at the OPA race in Point Pleasant, NJ. He sees the visit to Powerboat P1 as a marketing research tool to help decide his racing plans for 2009. “I really want to race in Europe—you let them know I’m coming and if anyone needs a kick-*** throttleman, I’m there!” he states firmly.
Peterson and the Glick have raced with Branch for years and are travelling to Madrid with the Branch family for some vacation exploration before arriving in Vigo just in time for the races.

Mark Slater will be travelling with his son, Kyle, from Detroit, Michigan, to explore some sponsorship opportunities with automotive industry clients in Vigo. He hopes to field a new Evolution Team for the 2009 P1 season.

Powerboat P1 is pleased to have this entourage visit to tour the P1 race experience first-hand. “We are delighted that this group of U.S. racers took us up on our invitation to see P1 from the front row!” said Robert Wicks, Commercial Director for P1, “We look forward to showing them first-hand that P1 is in fact, ‘World Class Racing – World Class Experience.’ We are confident they will enjoy themselves in Vigo!”