5:43 AM Tue 21 Jul 2009 GMT
|
|
'Skilful driving from Tom Barry-Cotter and the deft hand of Pal Virik Nilsen on throttles enabled 'Maritimo 11' to take a well-deserved second place in the Norwegian Grand Prix. - ?Raffaello Bastiani'
Class-1 World Powerboat Championship ©
|
The Maritimo Offshore Race Team has secured its best results ever in the BMW Norwegian Grand Prix last weekend, taking second and third place for a welcome double podium.
Tom Barry-Cotter (driver) and Pal Virik Nilsen (throttleman) piloted 'Maritimo 11' into second place, just 88 seconds behind race winner 'Victory 1'.
Maritimo crew chief Peter 'Muddy' McGrath (throttles) and Italy's Giorgio Manuzzi (driver) brought 'Maritimo 12' home in third a further 39 seconds behind.
The results for the Maritimo team was all the more meritorious considering the crew had minimal practice and testing prior to the race, with 'Maritimo 11' experiencing engine mapping problems and practice cancelled due to heavy rain.
It was brilliant driving by Barry-Cotter that saw 'Maritimo 11' make a 'flying start' to the race; the team's #1 boat was on the second row in seventh place after qualifying, but the young driver saw his opportunity to slip inside one of the islands dotting the course and had claimed third place by the end of the first lap.
|
Maritimo Team owner Bill Barry-Cotter (left) with his #1 crew Tom Barry-Cotter (centre) and Pal Virik Nilsen after their stunning second place in the Norwegian GP. - ?Raffaello Bastiani Norway GP -
Class-1 World Powerboat Championship ©
|
To Barry-Cotter's amazement, the pre-race favourite, 'Qatar 96', with Sheikh Hassan Al-Thani and the legendary Steve Curtis on board, spectacularly barrel-rolled on lap seven.
Tom and Pal were directly behind 'Qatar 96' when it rolled as it came into a corner.
'I have no idea how it happened,' Tom said after the race, 'it didn't hook, didn't appear to be in any trouble, it just barrel-rolled.'
I was able to speak with Tom as he prepared to depart Norway for the 40-hour trip back to the Gold Coast.
Needless to say, he was absolutely elated at the team's achievement.
Tom described having two boats on the podium as 'unexpected and a dream.'
'We had some handling issues, the boat is a real handful, no doubt about it,' he added.
'On the final lap our major concern was fuel - we made it to the line with about one-litre left in the tank,' he added.
Tom said throttleman Pal Virik Nilsen was 'absolutely elated.'
'It was his home Grand Prix so I guess for him the results was particularly sweet,' Tom explained.
Crew chief Peter 'Muddy' McGrath refused to be 'carried away' by the team's achievement.
'The result is a little unexpected, but a few boats ahead of us failed to finish, so let's not get too far ahead of ourselves,' he said.
Nonetheless it remains a good result for us after so little testing.'
'Victory 1', with throttleman Jean-Marc Sanchez and rookie driver Mohammed Al Mehairi at the wheel, covered the 17-lap, 100 nautical mile race in just 58 minutes, 17 seconds.
For Sanchez, the victory was his ninth on the circuit, but he was quick to give credit to Al Mehairi.
'Mohammed was outstanding, he drove perfectly; the crew gave us a great boat with the engines 'singing' all the way.
'This win is the first of many,' Sanchez added.
I was able to catch up with Maritimo owner Bill Barry-Cotter by telephone as he waited for a connecting flight at London's Heathrow Airport.
Needless to say, Bill was 'smiling through the 'phone.'
'A great result,' he declared.
On Tom's comments that the Maritimo boats are 'a handful', Barry-Cotter said additional testing on an identical boat would be undertaken in Australia, but he doubted much more could be done to improve their handling.
'They don't have the frontal area of the boats we use here, I guess you could describe them as go-karts with a V8,' he joked.
As is usually the case with offshore racing, the Norwegian GP proved a race of attrition.
Apart from 'Qatar 96' executing its spectacular barrel-roll, 'Qatar 95', Abdullah Al-Sulaiti and Matteo Nicolini on board, blew an engine on lap 11, while Jorn Tandberg, defending European champion, and Kolbjorn Selmer, aboard 'Welmax 90' had a frustrating event.
It started when they 'threw' a propeller blade and finished when technical problems on lap 13 forced their retirement.
'Giorgioffshore', Nicola Giorgi and Christian Zaborowski at the controls, was another retirement with complete engine failure.
'Victory 1' now leads the championship standngs on 35 points, with 'Fazza 3' second, 'Foresti &'third.
'Maritimo 11'(15 points) now holds equal fourth on the ladder alongside 'Qatar 96' with 'Maritimo 12' (12 points) just behind.
Footnote: Despite being the youngest driver on the tough offshore circuit, 21-year-old Tom Barry-Cotter obviously has the respect of his peers. Prior to the Norwegian GP, he was elected Drivers' Representative.
The post sees the youngster with the total responsibility of attending to all issues that may affect boat crews during the staging of the offshore racing.
Father Bill was delighted at the 'vote of confidence' granted to his son.
'It was a close election, more or less between Tom and one of the Victory crew, but I think one of the Italians changed sides and Tom copped the job,' Bill laughed.
|
Peter 'Muddy' McGrath and Giorgio Manuzzi, aboard 'Maritimo 12' dicing with a helicopter on their way to third place in the Norwegian Grand Prix. - ?Raffaello Bastiani -
Class-1 World Powerboat Championship ©
|
Results:
1: Victory 1 M Al Mehairi (UAE)/J M Sanchez (FRA)
2: Maritimo 11 T Barry-Cotter (AUS) P Virik Nilsen (NOR)
3: Maritimo 12 G Manuzzi (ITA)/P McGrath (NZL)
4: Foresti & G Soave (ITA)/G Montavoci (ITA)
5: Fazza 3 A Al Zafeen (UAE)/N Bin Hendi (UAE)
6: Welmax 90 K O Selmer (NOR)/J Tandberg (NOR)
Remainder of field failed to finish.
|
All smiles on the podium as the successful crews receive their trophies; that’s Tom Barry-Cotter on the extreme left, Pal Virik Nilsen alongside, with Peter ’Muddy’ McGrath extreme right, next to Giorgio Manuzzi. - Norway GP -
Class-1 World Powerboat Championship ©
|
by Bob Wonders
Click on thumbnails to enlarge and find more photos:
|
Macquarie Island, TAS
