UIM GT15 Archives ⋆ Powerboat Racing World

Team GB wins Xcat round #1 in Saudi Arabia

Frode Sundsdal — Sat, 23 Nov 2024 07:24:11 +0000

The sun shimmered brilliantly over the azure waters of Dammam as the Al Sharqiyah Grand Prix kicked off the first race of the Xcat World Championship’s final stretch. Anticipation was high among fans and teams alike, as every twist and turn of this race could prove crucial in determining the season’s ultimate victor.

The race roared to life with Offshore 222 seizing an initial lead. However, it was a short-lived triumph. Much to the dismay of their fans, Offshore 222 was disqualified for jumping the start, a decision that thrust Team GB into the limelight. With precision and power, Team GB harnessed this unexpected opportunity, commanding the lead with each passing lap, while HPI 96 Fujairah and Victory 7 vied fiercely behind them.

Holding a strategic fourth position, SweCat 2, the leading contender of the 2024 World Championship, was steering their course with determination. But in the lightning-fast world of powerboat racing, fortunes can turn in an instant. SweCat 2 soon found themselves embroiled in a high-speed incident, their engine cover shattered amidst the turmoil.

The damage was visible but not deterring. SweCat pushed forward, driven by their championship aspirations. Yet, by lap 11, the race director made a call, disqualifying SweCat out of measures due to the compromised engine cover. The Swedish/Norwegian team was directed back to the pits, their hopes of extending their championship lead dashed.

Refusing to accept defeat so easily, SweCat filed an official protest against the decision. Initially, their arguments bore fruit as the decision was overturned, offering a glimmer of hope to the team. However, this reprieve was short-lived. The officials, after further deliberation, reversed their decision yet again, leaving SweCat with zero points for the race. Their championship lead, once formidable, now teetered at a slim margin of just 7 points above HPI Fujairah.

PRW says :

It is frustrating when rules are applied differently to the teams from the officials. Will poor desitions earlier this year decide the World Championship series? Shouldn’t the rules be the same for all teams? One must trust that the new race director in charge now will enforce a more fair line than his predecessors, who apparently did not know the rules. Or did he ?

The list of questionable decisions historically is extensive in Xcat Worldchampionship, and teams like Team Abu Dhabi, Maritimo and Team 6 have claimed they left the championship for this reason.

The stakes have been set for the championship-deciding final rounds. SweCat, though still leading, will start 8th in the final Saudi Arabian race, a challenging position by any standard. Meanwhile, HPI Fujairah, buoyed by recent events, secured a second starting position, a tactical advantage they intended to exploit fully.

As the Xcat World Championship barrelled towards its December rendezvous in Dubai, the tension is palpable. With only three rounds remaining, the battle for the championship is as fierce as ever. Team GB, set to start off the pole later today, aims to capture their second victory of the year, their confidence riding the waves of recent success.

The Xcat World Championship remained wide open, the water shimmering with the promise of thrilling battles yet to come.

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GT 15 WORLDCHAMPION – Oliver Horntvedt

Frode Sundsdal — Sun, 24 Jul 2022 14:23:29 +0000

Congratulation to Oliver Horntvedt, Norway for winning the 2022 UIM GT 15 Worldchampionship title. Powerboating runs in the family, and the future looks bright. Full report when we have more info !

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RaceWKND Season 2021

Chris Davies — Fri, 19 Nov 2021 15:31:16 +0000

Since 2018 the Finnish Championship series has been open to everyone to race against the top drivers in Finland and to turn this into a reality the Suomen Purjehdus ja Veneily ry (Finnish Sailing and Boating Federation) awarded a three-year contract to Liquid Level Promotions.

The former SM Series was then rebranded as RaceWKND to reflect the duration of the event and to give the competition a fast-paced feeling combined with a modern style.

‘For some time now there has been a need for a kind of facelift for this sport’ said Johannes Bohmig from Liquid Level Promotions. ‘So our aim has been to make it better known in the media. We also needed closer racing and to make it more interesting for current participants, the general public, as well as potential sponsors and competitors.’

The promoter is totally committed to developing circuit powerboat racing which in practice means setting out a common aim for all to compete, develop and evolve in the field of circuit powerboat racing by acting with a cheerful outlook for the benefit of the whole sport. ‘Let us encourage each other together, give help and dare to ask for it if necessary’ said Bohmig.

For the 2021 season RaceWKND organised four race venues, with Lohja, located near Helsinki hosting Round One. Attracting overseas competitors has always been Bohmig’s aim, so when William Sjöström and Matilda Wiberg from Sweden and Stefan Arand from Estonia entered the F4 Class it showed that he and his promotional team were heading in the right direction. But it was the Finish driver Sami Reinikainen from the Veleiro Racing team who kept the foreign racers at bay, going on to secure what would be his only F4 victory for 2021.

Just two weeks later the teams headed to Ramua on the West coast of Finland, a city inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List back in 1991. This time around Arand got the better of Reinikainen to secure the F4 Class, although the weekend’s racing was cut short due to high winds on Sunday. This also had a massive impact on the GT15 European Championship which was being held there. With no chance of any racing on the Sunday, Hendrik Arula from Estonia won the UIM title based on the results from Saturday.

A month later it was Kuopio, the city surrounded by Lake Kallavesi who hosted Round Three. Once again the teams faced challenging weather conditions, hail storms in mid -July was not what they had expected. The F4 class was once again fiercely contested with Alexander Lindholm securing the top step of the podium. In the GT30 class Noel Vänttinen extended his overall series lead with a second-place finish behind Sweden’s Hilmer Wiberg, whilst in GT15 BMG Racing Team’s Arthur Sundbäck moved further ahead in the title race.

The major port of Kotka on the Gulf of Finland would provide the final venue for the 2021 season and once again Lindholm showed his dominance by winning all the F4 heats to seal his title bid. Reinikainen and Arand both finished three points behind him, but it would be the Finn by virtue of his two second place finishes earlier in the year that would separate the pair in the final championship standings. Vänttinen who had never been off the podium all season secured the GT30 title and in GT15 Sundbäck followed up his victory at the previous round with another in Kotka.

The SJ10 Class for 8–12-year old’s was incredibly competitive all year with just six points separating the top three drivers. Valter Laine just edged out Adele Servin and Sisu Seliö to take the title.

The RaceWKND series moto is ‘Passion for Powerboat Racing’ and all at PRW share that ideal and are already looking forward to covering their 2022 race series.

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L&OBMBC to host 2 world titles in 2021

John Moore — Sat, 17 Oct 2020 08:03:42 +0000

The Lowestoft & Oulton Broad Motor Boat Club (L&OBMBC) will host the UIM GT15 and OSY 400 world championships in 2021.

Club Commodore Peter Mantripp who oversaw a very successful OSY400 European Championship in July of 2018 also announced on the club’s Facebook page last night that the L&OBMBC would be staging a round of next year’s national championship.

Lowestoft & Oulton Broad Motor Boat Club Commodore Peter Mantripp with the Chairman of the UIM Formula Committee, Giacomo Borgonovi at the 2018 UIM OSY400 Hydroplane European Championship.
Photo: Chris Davies

Due to the ‘elephant in the room’, there has been no circuit racing in Britain this year although the L&OBMBC and its members are staying positive and are looking forward to a brighter 2021.

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