Girl power all set for Nottingham powerboat racing action

by Chris Davies, Powerboat GP on 30 Aug 2014 Building on the success of the last two years of international powerboat racing championship events, Powerboat GP has once again organised a mouth watering prospect for circuit race fans in the shape of the GT15 and GT30 European Championships, the final round of the F4S World Championships, along with the OSY400 European Championships. In fact over forty five different teams from around Europe and Scandinavia will arrive at the National Watersports Centre, Nottingham on August 30 and 31 to battle it out on the water.

As the record book shows it certainly won’t be a weekend of male dominated podium presentations, because starting as favourite to win the GT30 category will be Sara Pakalen from Finland. Pakalen, who started racing at the age of twelve in the SJ15 class, took the gold medal at the GT30 World Championships, which took place in Miedzyrzec, Poland earlier this year and will be a strong contender for a podium place come Sunday night.

Amongst the strong British entry hoping to thwart her challenge will be Charlotte Newton and Jessica Stoneman. Newton currently sits third overall in the national championship standing and is excited at the prospect of racing a truly international field. 'Although you never really know what to expect, I do like meeting the other racers from the different countries' she said. 'You can learn so much by watching their racing lines around the course. Whatever happens I’m planning to enjoy myself and to go out and do us proud.'

Stoneman meanwhile has experienced all this before when she went to the GT30 World Championship twelve months ago in Berlin. That time she took a superb sixth place in a highly competitive field and actually finished five places ahead of Pakalen on that occasion. Having recently secured the 2014 British Sprint Championship title she is in a very positive mood about this weekend’s racing, although she admits that the prospect of finishing it covered in bruises is one she’s not looking forward to, 'but it will all be worth it in the end' she said.

With close to twenty entries in the GT15 Championship team-mates Tiegan Goodfellow and Jessica Beaumont both know that with so many drivers on the tight course it's going to be challenging to maintain their positions in the race. 'Qualifying is going to be extremely important at Nottingham, as the advantage it gives us as we race to the top buoy will be dramatic' said Beaumont. 'However, team tactics and a good racing strategy should allow us to make up positions in the race if qualifying isn't what we had hoped for.'

Her team-mate Goodfellow is hoping to do better than she did this time last year, when Nottingham hosted the World Championships. 'It was my first ever international GT15 event and I was really nervous. In the third heat my boat split and it took on water, I finished an unlucky thirteenth overall that weekend.' Her biggest concern this year will be the gusty wind conditions that can make the four hundred and fifty metre straight a tricky place to hold your racing line. 'It could be a challenge again this year but this time I’m ready for anything' said Goodfellow. 'GB racing will be competing together for the first time as a team and not only will we be looking to put in a great performance; we will also be showing what girl power is all about.'

The third European Championship title to be decided will be for the OSY400 class, where Britain’s Luke Hugman and James Bowman will be pitting their racing skills against the likes of Rasmus Haugasmagi from Estonia and Miroslav Bazinsky from Slovakia, who they last met in Poland back in June.

After ‘double-header’ races in France, Italy and Latvia, Nottingham will also provide the climax to the UIM F4S World Championship and it couldn’t be tighter at the top. Just two points separate Latvia’s Nikita Lijcs and Italy’s Alberto Comparato, whose father Fabio finished in second place on the podium some eighteen years ago, when Nottingham hosted a round of the UIM Formula 2 European Championship.

Although the F4S National Championship has all been wrapped up by Ben Morse, it’s just as tight at the top for the runners-up position and that’s currently being held by Natalie Craddock, who this season has visited the podium on three out of four occasions.

Like her fellow countrymen, she is really looking forward to racing at Nottingham although Craddock admits to being a little anxious as well. 'As it’s my first year of competing in F4S, I really didn’t think I would have been racing in a round of the World Championship, it’s certainly going to be a great learning curve for me.' For Craddock it also offers her the chance to gauge herself against some of the world’s best drivers in this class, 'maybe I can learn a few new things from them that will help me in the national championship' she said. 'I am really proud to not only say I’m going to be representing Great Britain but also to be the only girl from the UK in the F4S class. It’s really lovely to see so many girls racing across all the classes these days and I can’t wait to cheer them on as well as the rest of the drivers from the UK.'

Powerboat GP’s Jason Brewer commented: 'We are extremely proud to host an event of this magnitude in the UK. All of the Powerboat GP staff have worked very hard to make this event happen and we are looking forward the challenge ahead.'

He continued: 'Powerboat Racing is so exhilarating to watch. The action is fast and furious and what better place to watch it than the fantastic facilities at the National Water Sports Centre where you’ll be able to get up close and personal with all the action that kicks off from 09:30 on Saturday Powerboat GP