Powerboat P1 SuperStock Championship- Penzance Grand Prix of the Sea

by RYA on 27 May 2010 Eighteen thousand spectators raced down to Cornwall for the opening leg of the Powerboat P1 SuperStock Championship at Mounts Bay for the Penzance Grand Prix of the Sea.

And now, the UK’s most exciting new motorsport heads across the Irish Sea to Galway for round two.

The inaugural round of the SuperStock Championship produced a high octane show with fire-breathing Fuel Girls, a two-day music festival and an official Grand Prix of the Sea party boosting the enthralling spectacle on the water.

Of the twelve teams on show, HeightsofAbraham.com and Premier Cru stole the headlines as the pre-season favourites got their 2010 SuperStock Championship campaigns off to a flying start.

Both teams conquered the rough racing conditions and showed chilling nerve, fearless maneuvering and aggressive handling as they each powered to three victories apiece.

Matlock-based HeightsofAbraham.com found unrivalled pace on the water. The Derbyshire outfit clocked speeds of 80 mph with pilots Rupert Pugh and Dan Whapples securing maximum points in Penzance.

Beating Team Maurice Lacroix and Rough Cut Racing into second and third respectively, the man behind the wheel Rupert Pugh said: 'It was an unbelievable feeling to win all three races this weekend. Taking the checkered flag in front of a huge crowd of people was amazing. It’s a fantastic start to the season.

'Team Maurice Lacroix gave us a few uncomfortable moments but the highlight of our weekend was taking Evans Heritage Developments in the chicane. It was an epic move in such bumpy conditions.'

Recovering from an injury to its pilot Stephen Baggs in race one, Team Maurice Lacroix bounced back from its disappointing first race to claim back-to-back second place finishes in race two and three.

Assisted by Rose Lores, who took the navigator’s seat during race two, Stephen and his brother, Michael Baggs, brought the team home on Sunday just ahead of Ian Brusby’s, Rough Cut Racing team.

In the 150 Class for 21 ft crafts, Premier Cru pilots John Wilson and Neil Scarborough were pushed all of the way by Team Fox and GSS Mermaid. Using its slender superiority around the corners Premier Cru reaped the rewards of an intense pre-season training regime to claim gold in Penzance.

After lifting his trophy in front of a colourful Cornish crowd, jubilant pilot Wilson hailed the Penzance Grand Prix of the Sea as 'one of the best weekend’s of his life.'

'It was a case of don’t back off and don’t look back! Everything came together at the right time,' according to Wilson. 'We’ve put in hours of practice over the close season, so bringing the boat home in front of a huge crowd in Penzance was the best feeling I’ve ever had.'

Team Fox pilot Martin Colligan refused to be satisfied with racing home as runners-up in Penzance, Looking forward to getting to grips with trickier tests in Ireland, Colligan promised that Wilson would not have it all his own way in Galway. He said: 'We got caught out in our first race when the navigator came out of his seat and hit the dead-switch. Our performances in race two and three showed we’ve got the same pace as Premier Cru and we were only millimeters rather than inches away from each other into turn one.

'The racecourse looks exciting in Galway and will offer different tests to Penzance. We’re not intimidated. It sounds like more fun to me. The more challenges the better!' GSS Mermaid was elated to claim only its second podium finish in competitive powerboat racing. Thoroughly enjoying its neck-and-neck tussle with Team Fox, only four seconds separated the top ranking trio in race three in Penzance.

Now with the Galway Grand Prix of the Sea, part of the week-long Around Ireland Offshore Powerboat Race, less than ten days away, Powerboat P1’s racing fleet is busy tuning its engines to combat an even more severe examination in the shape of Ireland’s west coast.

OVERALL PENZANCE GRAND PRIX OF THE SEA RESULTS

300 CLASS

1. HEIGHTSOFABRAHAM.COM
2. TEAM MAURICE LACROIX
3. ROUGH CUT RACING
4. EVANS HERITAGE DEVELOPMENTS
5. FUEL GIRLS
6. TEAM SHARK

150 CLASS

1. PREMIER CRU
2. TEAM FOX
3. GSS MERMAID
4. ECLIPSE
5. MR. DAYDREAM
6. TEAM PURPLE