Time Bandit Racing Debuted New Paint Scheme and Sponsor

Sarasota, FL (July, 6 2010) – The Suncoast Offshore Super Boat Grand Prix hosted one of the most competitive and exciting events from years past during this July 4th weekend. While rain danced around the Bayfront area during the festival weekend, it only excited the fans and teams with cooler temperatures and some great race day excitement. The consensus from the winners and from all the teams… Sunday’s sea conditions were rougher than expected. Manufacturer P-4 class winner, driver Kyle Dietzen of Simmons Racing, said it best “it was a bone crusher.”

Owner of Simmons Racing, Jim Simmons agreed with the succinct description. “It was rougher than we expected. The turns were tough and unpredictable. We were running pretty close to the Velocity team and normally would have given a bit more space, but we worked it out.” Many, if not all, of the teams racing on Sunday agreed with the tough conditions. Team owner, Dan Davies of Superboat Vee Unlimited winner continues, “It was rough. We ran that boat harder than we’ve ever run it before in those conditions. For my first time here, it was huge success. We had our setup right and we had the right props. It was a great event and we are really happy with a win.”

Team CRC driver Mike Defrees, with multi-time champion Johnny Tomlinson at the throttles, echoed the comments of others. “It was washing machine water out there. Today, the water was completely different than testing yesterday. We had to go down a couple pitches in propeller and hit some holes on the back of the course, but we definitely had the right set up. WHM was right there behind us all day. It was a great race,” comments Defrees.

One team that excited the fans and themselves was the newly sponsored Time Bandit Racing Team of Travis Lofland and Owner Bob Mazikowski. The team ran for the first time with the new colors and sponsorship. Captain Jonathan Hillstrand from the Fishing Vessel Time Bandit, known around the world by all those who watch “The Deadliest Catch”, was there to support Lofland and the race team. Lofland comments, “I’m so excited to have Jonathan here supporting us for the race. The fans have been awesome… we must have taken a thousand pictures with kids, crab fishing fans and race fans. It’s been great to help Suncoast Charities and everything they do. I’m not sure if the kids had bigger smiles or I did. And to top it off, we ran great today. It was just a perfect weekend,” When Lofland isn’t moonlighting racing boats, he’s known as “The Deadliest Deckhand.” His day job is working on a fishing vessel in Alaska, fishing for crab in the Bering Sea.

Many teams saw their day filled with excitement and some with minor infractions. Super Stock Class, Rollin Vengeance kept a tight line on the course, maybe just a little too tight. In turn one, Rollin Vengeance kept on rolling and rolled right over the top of the big orange pillow (course marker). While, Team Amsoil accepted first place award of the Super Cat class, Team Stihl crossed the finish line first and is awaiting a final post-race inspections ruling.

The next race for Super Boat International is August 6th – 8th, the 2nd Annual Super Boat Great Lakes Grand Prix in Michigan City, Indiana.

Super Boat is the premier sanctioning body of offshore powerboat racing. The 2010 racing schedule consists of a total of 8 National Series point races and then the final event, The Key West World Championships. These 9 scheduled events for the 2010 racing season enables Super Boat International to claim the largest and the best schedule of offshore Super Boat racing around the world.

About Super Boat International
Super Boat International (SBI) is the longest running professional offshore racing organization in North America. SBI President and Founder, John Carbonell produces races, kilo speed events and distance attempts all across the United States. In 2010, Super Boat International recognizes the 30th running of the famed Key West World Championships and their 20th anniversary as Super Boat International Productions.