St. Petersburg event cancellation sees Monster Energy/M CON claim world title
Team Defalco win last three races of the season to take second place
With the St. Petersburg Powerboat Grand Prix having been cancelled in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton, Powerboat P1 has officially announced that Monster Energy/M CON are the 2024 UIM Class 1 World Champions. The cancellation meant that the six-race series effectively came to a premature end after the Sarasota event in mid-September, with Tyler Miller and Myrick Coil now celebrating their world title by a 13-point margin over second placed Team Defalco.
Team owner/throttleman Tyler Miller decided to start building a Class 1 race boat in early 2022 and, with driver Myrick Coil alongside him, the learning curve was steep for the Kansas-based team for the first half of its rookie season in 2023. But by the end of the series, they had recorded three podium results on the way to a fourth-place overall finish.
This season began with Miller recovering from surgery on his back that involved removing two extruded discs lodged in the nerves of his spine, and multi-time Class 1 world champion Steve Curtis joined Coil in the 43-foot Skater for the opening race in Cocoa Beach in May. Miller made a remarkable recovery to renew his partnership with Coil later that month in Lake of the Ozarks and notch up two victories to extend their championship lead. Next stop in August was Sheboygan on Lake Michigan where Team Defalco, with Mike Falco and Billy Moore in the cockpit, won both races and then followed up with a third successive victory in Sarasota last month to dramatically close the gap on the Monster Energy-sponsored M CON team. The arrival of Hurricane Milton brought the Class 1 season to an untimely end, with Falco and Moore left to dream about what might have been.
Tyler Miller’s response to the official announcement was to quote Theodore Roosevelt: “The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood. This is the Monster Energy/M CON Racing Team captured in one sentence.” He then went on to pay tribute to his wife, Lindsey and his family who he said were beside him every step of the way, and to thank Myrick for “being an absolute professional behind the wheel with such a positive mentality.”
“We joined forces with M CON Racing a couple of years ago when Monster Energy looked at getting involved in offshore powerboat racing,” said Dave Gowland, Vice President Monster Energy Sports Marketing. “We were thrilled to be involved in the Super Cat National Championships which the M CON Racing team won, and to now be part of their very first UIM Class 1 World Championship victory has just been thrilling and energizing to Monster Energy and all that we do. High horsepower and fierce competition is what drives Monster Energy and we’re straight-up thrilled to be a part of it all.”
“M CON Racing is one of the most professionally run teams in offshore racing and they are always looking to break new ground in promoting and marketing the team,” said Powerboat P1 CEO Azam Rangoonwala. “Tyler and Lindsey bring to the sport the outstanding energy and skills they demonstrate in running their successful M CON company.”
Miller and Coil will be invited to the UIM Awards Giving Gala in Monaco next year to be presented with the prestigious Sam Griffith Trophy, named after the man who made the sport his own in the 1950s with four wins in the fabled Miami-Nassau race that signaled the beginnings of modern offshore racing.
Final Championship Standings
- Monster Energy/M CON
- Team Defalco
- dfYOUNG
- Morpheus 8
- XINSURANCE
For full details go to www.class1world.com
