Sail-World.com : Pignolo 53 team target Evo wins - latest P1 news
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Pignolo 53 team target Evo wins - latest P1 news |
#53 Pignolo 53 team owner and throttleman Massimiliano Ferrari has said his outfit is already targeting victories in Powerboat P1’s Evolution class after having scored a pair of third place finishes in the season-opener in Italy and the second round of the championship in France in May.
The Italian-based team currently lies fifth in the championship table, just 20 points behind the #77 Lucas Oil boat, despite this being its first full season in Powerboat P1 after selected outings in 2007. It currently looks set to receive an extra 50 point bonus score at the Tunisian Grand Prix of the Sea weekend for completing the first half of the year without changing its engines.
'Our first few races have been beyond our expectations,' Ferrari said. 'It’s our first full year, and what we’ve done is remarkable. We’ve had great reliability, we’re working hard on the boat – but it is mainly only repairs, allowing us to focus on testing.
'We’ve improved the transmission and the propellers and in Tunisia we hope to have a better performance setup. I think we’re ready for a win – we really want to win, and I hope it arrives soon. I think we have all the necessary requirements to stay at the top.'
Regular pilot Guido Cappellini will return to the drivers’ seat for the next round of the championship in Tunisia on July 11-13, having been replaced for the Malta round by Francesco Redaelli.
Returning Powerboat P1 team boss Chris Witty has been forced to postpone the debut of his new #00 ProVee Offshore Evolution-class outfit from the upcoming Tunisian Grand Prix of the Sea in Hammamet on July 11-13.
The ex-Formula 1 marketeer and PR guru helped run the #99 King of Shaves Ilmor-powered Fountain Evolution-class team alongside pilot James Sheppard and throttleman Craig Wilson in 2007, ultimately winning the Evolution title despite missing the opening round of the year in Malta.
Witty was planning to run a similar Ilmor-powered Fountain hull this year in partnership with Floridian-based Frenchman Michel Karsenti and eight-time UIM Class 1 world champion Steve Curtis, MBE, but has been forced to push back the team’s planned debut after delays in the boat’s construction due to the down turn in the US high-performance boat industry. This means the team won’t be able to transport the boat from its current base at Fountain’s North Carolina factory in the US to the European mainland in time for the Tunisian event.
'The boat has only just been finished, but we haven’t had a chance to properly test it,' Witty said on Friday. 'With a transit time of three weeks, it would have to have left two days ago to make Hammamet, and that wasn't going happen.'
The team has yet to announce its driver line up for the season, although Witty did say the team were in talks with a number of prominent racers and an announcement would be made in the coming weeks.
http://www.powerboatp1.com/
by Powerboat P1 media
5:49 AM Wed 25 Jun 2008 GMT
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