Thunder On The Beach SBI Grand Prix - Victory for Team Stihl

by Super Boat International on 22 May 2014 The fifth annual Thunder On The Beach Super Boat International (SBI) Grand Prix race was filled with action and packed beaches. Team Geico put on a fantastic show of endurance and speed to overtake Spirit of Qatar in the Superboat Unlimited Class and earn a first place finish. Finishing first in the Superboat class, Team Stihl battled all day with WHM Motorsports to achieve their victory. Nearly one hundred thousand spectators lined the beaches and hotels to watch the spectacular events.

SBI President, John Carbonell comments on the day’s competition. 'This was a great day for racing and we saw, what appeared to be, a record crowd. We have great teams that race really hard and these were tough conditions. This is true offshore racing with 4-5 ft. seas. The fans really enjoy seeing the boats flying out of the water which makes for very exciting racing. There was some great competition in our fastest classes of the day.'

Miss Geico, always a crowd favorite, ran well against #613 Spirit of Qatar. The fans enjoyed these two boats go head to head all day in the rough seas. They were flying over waves nearly as much as they were running with their props in the water. Driver Marc Granet comments, 'It was a really great day of racing and our team worked very hard to put together the perfect boat for us to run today.'

Superboat Class winner, Team Stihl, has put back-to-back first place finishes with new throttleman Mark Kowalski. Team owner JR Noble remarks after Sunday’s race 'Mark did a great job on the throttles today. It was really rough and, at the same time, very exciting racing with WHM all day. They (WHM) are the ones to beat in rough water, as they are always really good. I think we showed everyone today we could race rough water too. Super Boat International and Kerry (Bartlett) really put a great event together and the new Dry Pits location is the best we have ever seen here. The community has got be happy with this event.'

The first race on Sunday in Superboat Vee, P3 and P4 classes set the tone for the day’s competition with Teams Sun Print, Black Pearl and Dare Devil taking home victories. Everyone got to see how rough the waters were during the first race as they got to make last minute changes based on the high flying action of the first race. 'Thunder On The Beach' saw 28 race boats, which made for a very successful and fun filled event weekend.

The next race on the Super Boat circuit is the 30th Annual Suncoast Super Boat Grand Prix Festival, July 3rd – sixth. Join us in Sarasota, Florida and, if you cannot make it, watch it live online here.

http://superboat.com/" target="_blank">SBI website