Marco Pennesi, pilot of the #60 GFN Gibellato Evolution class boat, has said he is overjoyed at his team's Tunisian Grand Prix of the Sea win.

Although the Italian squad slowed with fuel problems in the closing stages of Sunday's Sprint race, their Endurance race win and third place in the Sprint allowed them to pip the #10 Fantastic 1 and #53 Pignolo 53 boats to the weekend honours.

The diesel-powered boat proved to be the class of the field for much of the Tunisian weekend, and were easily the fastest boat in the Sprint event. The double points success has allowed them to close within 10 points of the second-placed #88 Kiton Outerlimits crew in the overall championship standings.

"We made a small error in the calculation of how much diesel we needed, and we consumed more than we thought," Pennesi said. "It's a mistake which cost us victory in the Sprint race. However, when we took the lead we did show the world the most beautiful overtaking move. Honestly, it was beautiful.

"I'd say that we are very strong right now, and I think that we still lack eight per cent of our maximum. Over the next two months we'll work to reach 100 per cent potential of this engine and hull. This boat surpasses all our imagination. Winning the Tunisian Grand Prix of the Sea also takes on enormous significance, because we can now really fight for the title until the end."

#10 Fantastic 1 wins survival of the fittest

Today's Evolution Sprint race round of the Tunisian Grand Prix of the Sea proved as much of a test of stamina of man and machine as Saturday's Endurance race, with the #10 Fantastic 1 Cigarette Racing Team Europe squad, the #76 Italcraft boat and the #88 Kiton Outerlimits emerging the top-three survivors from an attrition-marked race.

The first few laps provided some of the closest racing of the season so far as the #10 Fantastic 1, the #60 GFN Gibellato, the #88 Kiton Outerlimits and the #99 Fountain Worldwide 1st4boats.com crews battled fiercely for position. By the end of the first lap, though the #99 Fountain Worldwide crew were slowing with broken steering, and the #60 GFN Gibellato boat was surging ahead into a dominant lead.

As the #88 Kiton Outerlimits boat slowed with an engine problem, the four-way battle turned into a two-way scrap that - in the closing laps - soon became a solo performance as the #60 GFN Gibellato boat followed the lead of the midfield runners and crawled to a halt. That put the #10 Fantastic 1 boat back ahead, with the US-backed Italian-run team scoring their first Powerboat P1 victory on a weekend when regular throttleman Lino Di Biase was replaced with Class 1 racer Matteo Nicolini.

"We didn't have any problems at all," said pilot Luca Formilli Fendi. "It's fantastic to be scoring our first win. Although we're a new team and a new boat, we knew from our performance in the first few races that it would only be a matter of time before we won. Obviously, today, we can say that there was a little bit of luck with so many teams dropping out, but sometimes that's the luck that you need. It was fantastic to have Matteo in the cockpit. Lino has given me a great team-mate for today."

The only joy for the #60 GFN Gibellato team was that the high rate of attrition meant they were able to score third place, and secure the overall Tunisian Grand Prix of the Sea honours from the #10 Fantastic 1 boat and Max Ferrari's #53 Pignolo53 entry.

Bad Tunisian weekend for Evo frontrunners

The Tunisian Grand Prix of the Sea weekend proved to be an overseas trip to forget for the two leading boats in the Evolution title chase. The reigning champion #99 Fountain Worldwide 1st4boats.com team and the #88 Kiton Outerlimits squad both struggled with reliability problems in what proved to be a real event of attrition for all the team's in Powerboat P1's top class.

The #88 Kiton Outerlimits crew - with weekend recruit Abla Lassoued - scored a strong second place in Saturday's Endurance race, but failed to finish the Sunday Sprint race with an engine problem. They're now just 10 points ahead of the third-placed #60 GFN Gibellato team in the championship points standings. That wasn't their only problem.

"On the first lap, we hit a big wave as were rounding the buoys and we went straight into it," said pilot Giancarlo Cangiano. "We could still see, but it was like a parachute for two laps. Obviously, it's disappointing not to finish, but - overall - nothing has changed for me as the Fountain team had problems as well. It's only a lost opportunity."

Things weren't so positive for the #99 Fountain Worldwide crew, who finished third in the Saturday Endurance race, but were hit by steering failure in the Sunday Sprint race. They've now seen their point advantage drop to 70 points, although they potentially have a 50-point engine change bonus and a 100-point penalty from earlier in the season still to gain under appeal.

"We had a major steering problem," said pilot James Sheppard. "We tried to continue, but it was just uncontrollable. It's a huge disappointment for the team, because they worked so hard through the night to change the engine and repair the broken engine hatch from yesterday. It was great that were able to start the race fighting at the front, but the steering just got heavier and heavier until it was unsafe to continue, even if we were aiming for the 70 per cent. I guess this is the beginning of the fightback."

by Angharad Gibbs

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