18 AUGUST 2006


THE POWERBOAT P1 'BATTLE OF BRITAIN'!


The Powerboat P1 World Championship is about to stage its own Battle of Britain and it could determine the outcome of the SuperSport title. Two British-based teams head the class going into their home Grand Prix and both acknowledge that the Cowes double header, on 26th and 27th August, will be crucial.
Ocean Dragon's Martin Lai, Mark Williams and Mark Sansom tilted the balance of the contest in Gallipoli last month, when their first and sixth places took them 80 points clear at the top of the standings. Previous leaders Jackie Hunt and Mike Shelton suffered a double retirement in their ARPRO Racing Dragon and admit they need nothing short of victory at Cowes to revive their Championship ambitions.

An increasingly competitive category has produced strong challenges from Italy, Malta and Belgium, but local knowledge is likely to prove vital and the British racers are expected to set the pace. Ocean Dragon and ARPRO are confident they have sorted out problems they encountered in Italy and anticipate a titanic struggle in the penultimate round of the season.

Chinese restaurateur Lai, who had to nurse a boat down on power in the second race at Gallipoli, said, "We found we had low oil pressure and just didn't have the pace. But we have fixed that now and are looking forward to Cowes. It's a very big race for our team because it's the British Grand Prix, but even more so now as it is going to be so important for the Championship. We have given ourselves a great chance and we don't want to throw it away. We have had some bad luck this season, just as ARPRO have. But that is racing. I hope we have reliability now because it's going to be tough, but we're optimistic we can do it."

Hunt and her husband Shelton are even more anxious to avoid trouble and stay in contention come the final rounds of the series, in Portugal. They had engine trouble all weekend at Gallipoli and left the event distraught. "We believe it was down to an electrical problem and hopefully we'll be OK at Cowes," Hunt said. "It was a bitter blow for us at Gallipoli because we felt so helpless. It was totally out of our hands. If it's human error you can at least blame yourselves. With the disqualification and problems we had earlier in the season it means we've effectively lost four races and that could ultimately cost us the Championship. So now we've got to bounce back and go all out for wins. We always give everything, but somehow we have to find an extra 10 per cent."

"It's something of a double-edged sword racing at Cowes. We have home advantage and we'll have a lot of support from family and friends. But that means also added pressure because expectations will be so high and we don't want to let anyone down. It's become an incredibly competitive class and we're by no means the only two contenders for the Championship, but I think it will come down to Ocean Dragon and us. The sea at Cowes can be lumpy and that may not suit some of the other boats."

Visit the British Grand Prix of the Sea section of the Powerboat P1 website by clicking here.