Celebrations at the Battle of Stokes Bay
Norvill and Parsons-Young crowned 2014 P1 SuperStock UK Champions, with Pope, Johnstone and Evans crowned P1 AquaX Champions at Gosport Grand Prix of the Sea
'Welshmen James Norvill and Charlie Parsons-Young crowned 2014 P1 SuperStock UK champions at the Gosport Grand Prix of the Sea after a clean sweep of victories on the Solent.'
That was the headline on Sunday evening at the end of a memorable weekend of powerboat racing on the Hampshire coast, but our story starts on Saturday morning as the ten P1 SuperStock teams completed their preparations for the opening race that afternoon in Stokes Bay.
Hazy, late summer sunshine. A sweeping bay. The flat, glistening waters of the Solent. The shoreline of the Isle of Wight emerging through the fret. The crowd building on the beach. A fleet of ten P1 Panther race boats ready to battle for championship glory. A tense, exhilarating and possibly dramatic weekend ahead.
The results of the last round of races in Torquay had left the title chase wide open, with just seven points covering the top three teams. John Wilson in the Pertemps boat had his sights set on a second P1 crown and, with navigator Daisy Coleman alongside him, he was hoping for rough conditions to help him defend a slender lead.
Snapping at his heels in joint second place were the Welsh duo of James Norvill and Charlie Parsons-Young in the GD Environmental Services boat and IFX Racing crewed by the Buckinghamshire pairing of Nick Williams and Martin Robinson. Both teams believed that they had a very real chance of pipping the wily Wilson to the title with the Welshmen, who criss-cross the Atlantic to race in both the P1 SuperStock series and currently top the championship standings in the USA, looking to achieve a remarkable double.
There was drama from the outset as gearbox failure left Pertemps on the start line. GD Environmental seized the opportunity to romp to victory ahead of IFX Racing and then drove superbly in the surprisingly calm conditions to win both races on Sunday. Despite serious engine problems in the final race, IFX Racing hung on to clinch second place in the championship, just four points ahead of Pertemps. GD Environmental’s clean sweep of victories took their margin of victory to an impressive seventeen points.
Norvill and Parsons-Young now turn their attention to achieving the "double" as they head to St. Cloud, Florida for the final round of the P1 USA SuperStock race series to defend their three point lead at the top of the championship table. “The race venue is one of my favourites in the States. It’s also my lucky venue, where I won my first Grand Prix of the Sea in Florida. Let’s hope that Charlie and I can repeat that later this month. Typically the lake is flat, which is good for us. We will arrive there to do lots of testing and will be well prepared to achieve the double!
Yamaha Riders Dominate As Pope, Johnstone and Evans Are Crowned P1 AquaX Champions
It was a fitting end to what has been an outstanding season for the P1 AquaX UK series with over 30 racers on the Solent in front of crowds lining Stokes Bay.
Former World, European and National champion Phil Pope took the overall win with two victories, the championship honours and for the first time in AquaX history gave Yamaha its first 300 class victory. “I’m so happy and really enjoyed the racing. Everyone has made us feel so welcome here in Gosport and my thanks go to the P1 team for putting on a great championship” commented Pope as he left the podium.
In the 250 class former 200 class winner Duncan Johnstone couldn’t contain his excitement when he was crowned champion in front of his home crowd. “I’ve waited a long time for this win, and I’m just so pleased to do it here on home waters” said a beaming Johnstone. The Yamaha FZR racer held off strong competition from Sea-Doo RXT of Rob Higgs to clinch the title by only two points in the very last race of the season.
Welsh supporters were out in force to cheer on championship leader Damien Evans as he battled to secure his first AquaX title in the 200 class. But disaster struck when his Yamaha HO blew a hole in its crank cases in the opening race and he was forced to retire. Under AquaX rules a rider is not allowed to change his craft between races so there was nothing left to do accept an overnight engine strip and rebuild. By morning the engine was repaired and Evans was back on the water to finish fourth overall on the weekend and secure just enough points to take the championship. “I wasn’t sure if we going to get back out on the water, so I’ve got to thank everyone who helped get the engine rebuilt for me to take the title.”
For more information about Powerboat P1 visit www.powerboatp1.com
Article courtesy of Roy Mantle, PowerboatP1