| UK. Ebel runs like clockwork to take first win in Honda F4S Powerboat Isle of Man |
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| Monday, 26 June 2006 | |
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Nick Mott: Crowds gathered for the opening round of the HF4S Powerboat Series this weekend which took place in Douglas Bay on the Isle of Man (Saturday 24 June 2006). Kicking off with the 150hp championship, Ebel’s Graham Foster-Vigors and Mick Horsfall took top honours after a nail-biting 9 laps, which saw ‘Ebel’ setting the standard, holding off stiff competition from ‘Delmar Flooring’ and ‘Quality Job’. ‘Premier Cru’ had the best start, maintaining an early lead for the first part of the race. But ‘Ebel’ were close behind and settling into a comfortable rhythm. Foster-Vigors said: “We had a cracking start run and just kept our eyes on the start boat, slotting into second before the first turn. We had a fantastic racing line and managed to overtake Premier Cru in the rougher water around turns five and six. We put a lot of work in on the boat pre-season and it paid off” Once passed, Ebel quickly built up a comfortable lead, finishing six seconds ahead of ‘Premier Cru’ in second place. However, an error when taking their pit lap relegated ‘Premier Cru’s’ Neil Crabb and Jonny Twelvetrees to twelfth place overall. This promoted ‘Delmar flooring’s’ Mark Glanville and Tony Crossley into second and moved Tom and James Plant in ‘Quality Job’ up onto the podium in their first ever HF4S race. ‘Delmar Flooring’ were neck and neck with ‘Quality Job’ for most of the race, but used their experience to get on the inside of Quality Job around turn one with one lap to go. Glanville said: ”We’re really chuffed with the result. We didn’t’ get away well despite being on pole, but managed to fight our way through the field. Now we know what the boat can do, we’ll aim to get a better start tomorrow.” In the an equally exciting 225hp race, Gavin Parsonage and Nathan Libby in ‘Negotiator’ took the chequered flag in emphatic style, completing the race 23 seconds ahead of Rupert Pugh and Lee Darbyshire in ‘Heights of Abraham’ second, with reigning 225hp champions Shelly Jory and Libby Keir in ‘Raymarine’ coming third. Team ‘Raymarine’ were closing on ‘Negotiator’ in the early stages until they hit some bad wash coming around the Tower of Refuge, nearly sending the all female crew for an early bath. This allowed ‘Heights of Abraham’ to ease pass into second spot. Darbyshire commented: “We had a great Isle of Man Grand Prix last season and this year feels much better. It’s a great start for us and we know there is room for improvement, especially on our start run. We felt more relaxed which we can only put down to having a bit more experience than last year.” Jory said: “That was one of the hardest races to date. We never got into any clean water and were battling with Heights of Abraham for most of the race. We were in second place but had a major incident around turn three. We hit some bad wash with the boat too trimmed which sent us into role. We thought we were going in but managed to put our weight on to the other side of the boat. We’d lost some paintwork but got straight back on it so we didn’t lose ground.” The Steam Packet Company Grand Prix of the Isle of Man continues tomorrow (Sunday 25) with race two of the 2006 150hp championship at 13:00hrs followed by the 225hp series at 14:00hrs. Viewing is available along the Queens Promenade. |
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| Last Updated ( Monday, 26 June 2006 ) |
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