The 2008 Powerboat P1 championship is gearing up for a thrilling climax as teams head to the west coast of the European continent for the Vigo Grand Prix of the Sea in northern Spain on the southern Mediterranean coast. In the Evolution class, the reigning champion 99 Fountain Worldwide 1st4boats.com team have a strong 220 point lead in the standings, but struggled to return to their early-season winning ways in the last two rounds in Malta and Tunisia. A couple of poor results, allied to wins for the 88 Kiton Outerlimits and 60 GFN Gibellato teams, could dramatically turn the balance of the title tide in the closing rounds. There’s an incredibly close battle for fourth place to seventh place, with the 53 Pignolo 53, 10 Fantastic 1, 66 Cranfields Wine and 77 Lucas Oil crews all looking for a solid finish to the end of the year. The 57 Centaurian Yachts, 76 Italcraft and 69 Honeyparty.com teams will also be looking to end their year on a high. In the SuperSport class, the reigning champion 44 Conam Yachts Racing Project team have a healthy 190 point lead, but just like in Evolution a sudden bad run of form could hand the advantage to the perfectly poised 07 VoomVoom.com team. The 38 Baia High Performance crew, who are 120 points further back, look set to take at least third place in the standings, but the 47 Silverline Buzzi Bullet team will have to work hard to defend their 60-point lead over the 08 Phoenix TV crew. The 59 Saho squad will be looking to take sixth place in the standings in the absence of the 11 Sunseeker Challenger crew, while the 22 Big Sergio and 46 Spirit of Portomaso teams will be looking to end their year on a high. The Vigo Grand Prix of the Sea will takes place this weekend of September 12-14. As ever we’ll have all the inside news and analysis direct from the dry pit, with live race coverage on Virtual Spectator and P1 Radio.
www.powerboatp1.com
September 10, 2008
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