Fountain crew survive tough Malta event
'The #99 Fountain 1st4boats.com team'
U.I.M Powerboat
P1 World Championship - ©
#99 Fountain crew survive tough Malta event.
#99 Fountain Worldwide 1st4boats.com pilot James Sheppard has once again praised his team for avoiding a last-minute hitch in the Evolution class Sprint race of the Malta Grand Prix of the Sea that could have eliminated the boat from the event before it even got started.
The British-based reigning Evolution class champion team had their worst weekend of the year so far in Malta after dominating the field in Italy and France. They finished fourth in Saturday's Sprint and second in Sunday's Endurance race, but still lead the championship by 90 points over the Malta Grand Prix of the Sea-winning #88 Kiton Outerlimits team.
'It was really very rough out there, but the team did a great job, especially as we had a dead battery, which they picked up just 45 minutes before the race,' Sheppard said. 'As we've only got the one battery, it's obviously pretty important, but there was a huge team effort to get us sorted 10 minutes before the start of the race.
'We suspected that the #88 Kiton Outerlimits boat might have jumped the start, and we realised we couldn't catch them and pass them in the nine laps of the race, so we just stayed one minute behind them knowing that there was a chance they'd pick up a two-minute penalty.'
Engine problems slow #10 Fantastic 1.
The #10 Fantastic 1 Cigarette Racing Team Europe outfit have strengthened their seventh position in Powerboat P1's Evolution class championship standings, despite almost coming to a halt in today's Sprint race with engine problems.
The Italian-based crew have shown considerable pace in the opening three rounds of the season in their Mercury-powered Cigarette-built hull, but failed to match their 100-point haul from France, after failing to start Saturday's Endurance race. An engine problem in Sunday's Sprint slowed their pace, but they were able to scrape home in third place in a race of attrition in rough conditions to add 60 points to their tally.
'We lost half the power of one of our engines very early on in the race,' said pilot Luca Formilli Fendi. 'It was a real shame, but at least we have some points.'
This was also the first weekend that new throttleman John Tomlinson spend racing with the team. The US racer - who replaced regular throttleman Lino Di Biase this weekend - has yet to be confirmed for future races, but admitted he enjoyed his first Powerboat P1 experience. 'It has been about eight years since I raced a V-hull, which was much earlier in my career,' he said. 'I've run a lot of hulls, though, so it wasn't a big problem to get back up to speed.' 
#88 Kiton Outerlimits team moves into second in Evolution class
The #88 Kiton Outerlimits team has moved into second place in the Evolution class championship after a double win in this weekend's Malta Grand Prix of the Sea. The team scored a dominant victory in rough conditions in both Saturday's Endurance race and Sunday's Sprint race to take the overall Malta Grand Prix of the Sea.
This has been the best weekend of the year so far for the Italian-based Mercury-powered team, which has swapped to the US-built Outerlimits hull this year. Team boss and throttleman Giancarlo Cangiano is keen to recapture his crown after losing out to the #99 King Of Shaves Fountain team last year, and is now just 90 points behind reigning champions James Sheppard and Craig Wilson with four rounds of the 2008 championship still to go.
'It was a very tough race - just like yesterday,' said pilot Joe Sgro. 'They're very strange waters around here in Malta, which is always the case. At the start, we managed to get around the #10 Fantastic 1 Cigarette boat and you just take it from there. In really rough conditions like these, all you do is keep going and hope it all holds together. Getting second in the championship points is a good bonus.' 
Latest news at www.powerboatp1.com/
by Powerboat P1 media 
Click on thumbnails to enlarge and find more photos:
sunrise beach, QLD
