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German Grand Prix - Race 1
Sadly, on the first lap of the first race in the German Grand
Prix, there was a racing accident which tragically took the life
of one of our fellow drivers and one of the great gentlemen of
Powerboat racing, Sergio Carpentieri. The crew of Fainplast and
Sergio's co-pilot, Luca Nicolini were unhurt although Nicolini
was taken to hospital, suffering from shock.
Sergio, who was 51, had raced in over 300 powerboat races over a
30 year racing career, racing in Class III 2-Litre, 4-Litre and
6-Litre and winning numerous titles.
Out
of respect for Sergio, there was no further racing on the
Saturday. On Sunday the P1 organisers and race teams laid a
floral tribute to a fellow racer, friend and member of the P1
"family" amidst very emotional scenes for his brother and
co-driver.
Our
thoughts and hearts go out to Sergio's mother and brothers, his
co-driver Luca Nicolini and to the crew of Fainplast who were
involved in the accident.
We
will remember Sergio "singing" in the race briefings and how
much he loved his boat and the racing. There is a little comfort
in the fact that he died doing something he loved passionately.
Rest in peace Sergio ... you will not be forgotten.
On
Sunday, all the teams were in agreement that Sergio would have
wanted us to race. All the boats racing carried stickers with
his name and boat number "Sergio 03" and all the crew members
wore black armbands out of respect for this much loved racer.
P1 Race teams and Officials
assembled for the tribute |
All the teams were represented
from each boat and country racing |
Sergio Carpentieri (1956 -
2007) |
P1 Officials Nathan Knight and
Asif Rangoonwala |
The floral tribute left in the
sea was a very poignant moment for all |
German Grand Prix - Race 2
Travemunde is one of
our favourite venues. The venue is very pretty and clean and the
crowds absolutely love the event, travelling from miles around
to attend. Despite the weather they once again came in force to
watch.
When we missed our
flight to Germany on Thursday night the alarm bells rang, it
felt like it was just going to be one of those weekends that you
would choose to forget. I could have made a jovial account of
the weekend and the things that went wrong (missing a flight,
breaking a prop etc.) but it does not seem right to make light
of what was a terrible weekend for all involved with powerboat
P1. It is with a heavy heart that I write this report.
The weekend started with a missed flight to
Germany due to a big accident on the M25. A very early start the
next morning to get the next flight was the start to the
weekend. On the Friday P1 held some speed trials, a spectacle
for the crowds as all the teams did their best speeds down the
river. We were disqualified on the first run for starting before
the green flag (oops!) and then on the second run I failed to
get the boat on the plane properly and totally mucked up, coming
I believe second from last with a very slow speed! So Friday was
not a good day, although we joked about it in the bar that
evening.
The next day was one of the saddest days we
have ever experienced. The loss of such a good friend to all,
cast a dark shadow over the event. The decision to race on
Sunday was not made until 9am on Sunday morning to ensure that
everyone wanted to race. The decision was made on the basis that
the race was held in Sergio’s memory. He was passionate about
powerboat racing and it almost seemed disrespectful not to
compete, he would have been mad at us had we not raced!
So with heavy hearts the teams continued
their preparation. A number of people asked me what it was like
preparing for a race the day after one of the drivers had been
killed. In answer to this, it was hard in that we missed Sergio
and his yellow boat, there was a void that you felt as soon as
people started to get into their boats. In terms of whether we
were fearful of racing or not? Then no, Mike and I know the
risks and that sort of soul searching you do before you even buy
a boat to race, it comes with the territory.
We had high hopes for the race on Sunday. On
Saturday the boat had finally found its form and before the race
was stopped she had been running magnificently we had been up
with the Evolution boats in a very clear lead. We needed to do
the same again after our disastrous time in Italy.
We all moved slowly to the start, the run
commenced and the yellow flag went up shortly followed by the
green and we were off.
This time we had got amongst the Evolution
boats which was not ideal, but fortunately everyone was running
straight and as the roosters cleared we were running with Buzzi
Bullet III, Roscioli Hotels alongside with the rest of the field
behind. We came into the first turn got it just right taking it
fast and enabling us to overtake Roscioli on the outside.
On the next leg we were then level with Buzzi
Bullet. Neck and neck we ran level with them for the rest of the
lap, probably some 10 minutes side by side. Another excellent
turn at the bottom of the course near the crowds had us pretty
much level with him. Roscioli Hotels and the rest of the
SuperSport field were way behind.
A wave of excitement went through me, this
was going to be an excellent battle with our friend’s Drew and
Jan, and it would be a great fight.
Then the boat slightly lost some speed and
then there was a loud bang and the boat lurched slightly. The
steering wheel violently shook in my hands and the whole boat
shook and resonated beneath us.
I could not believe it! Just as we had
finally got the boat going well and were about to have a good
battle it looked like we had broken a prop, this season was just
not to be.
The feeling of despair that set in was
immense. Usually you accept fate gracefully and accept that
break downs are part of the course with racing. But we have now
had our fair share of these, and still feeling emotional about
the whole weekend it seemed like the end of the world. All that
effort on the boat, all wasted, it was incredibly disappointing.
We slowed slightly whilst we assessed what
had happened and whether it was safe to continue and guessing
that it was a prop and not the engine we pressed on, we needed
valuable points now and at least had to finish. So with a boat
shaking like a milk shake blender we continued with 7 more laps
to go! Managing to get the boat to 80mph was possible, but there
was no acceleration so any washes or mixed water caused the boat
to lurch side to side and she was a bit of a handful to drive.
The key was to keep her as balanced as possible and take the
turns wide to keep the momentum going. Fussing about the hull
and trimming in and out would just keep the boat unbalanced and
lose us more speed, so whilst we weren’t racing hard it was
still hard work!
What was most agonising was seeing the boats
go passed us. First Roscioli, then Ocean Dragon and the rest of
the fleet, it was absolute torture. We limped on and finally
after 7 agonising laps where we were very much shaken and very
stirred (!) the race finally finished with us finishing an
embarrassing last but with the all important points.
Let us hope that now we can put such a tragic
and disappointing weekend behind us and look forward to the rest
of the season!
|
Position |
Boat Name |
Laps |
Time |
Championship
Points Awarded |
|
1 |
44 Roscioli Hotels Roma |
7 of 7 |
45 :32 :78 |
100 |
|
2 |
47 Buzzi Bullet III |
7
of 7 |
45
:41 :44* |
80 |
|
3 |
08 Sun Lik Beer |
7
of 7 |
45
:42 :53* |
60 |
|
4 |
07 VoomVoom.com |
7
of 7 |
45
:53 :97 |
50 |
|
5 |
46 Chaudron 2 |
7
of 7 |
46
:19 :09 |
40 |
|
6 |
11 Sunseeker Challenger |
7 of 7 |
47 :07 :69 |
30 |
|
7 |
01 Extremeboat.com |
7 of 7 |
47 :16 :66 |
20 |
|
8 |
10 Naue Racing |
0
of 7 |
DNS |
0 |
* 30 second
penalty applied
|
