Pilot Blog - Aaron Ciantar
Aaron Ciantar, pilot of the SuperSport points-leading #44 Conam Yachts boat, is looking forward to racing at home in Malta
This weekend the Powerboat P1 championship comes to my home island of Malta, and I have the good fortune to be leading the SuperSport class with Angelo Tedeschi – the team boss and throttleman of the Italian Racing Project squad. In our #44 Conam Yachts boat, we’ve won three of the first four races of the 2008 season, and we finished third in the other after losing two minutes with a jump-start penalty.
At the start of the season, I don’t think either myself or Angelo could have expected to have had so much success in the first four races of the year. Although Angelo won the SuperSport championship with the same Chaudron boat and Mercury engine in 2007 – which means we know how good it is – this is the first time that Angelo and I have worked together. That means we started the season a little bit cautiously, but things seemed to have worked out pretty well so far!
A good relationship between a pilot and a throttleman is all about trust and instinct, but Angelo and I seem to have developed that bond very quickly. Angelo is a very aggressive racer – he keeps the top speed as close to the 85mph limit as he can on the straights and then pushes hard in the corners – but as long as I know he’ll be pushing to the maximum on the throttles, then I know that I have to push just as hard behind the wheel.
People say that – from the outside – our success has looked easy, but I can assure you that racing in Powerboat P1 is always very hard work. We’re pushing the limits of the boat’s performance in every race, and if conditions turn rough, like they did in Marseille, then we obviously have to work even harder!
Some of the other teams have had problems, which has helped us build up an early championship lead. However, both Angelo and myself like to have strong competition as it makes us perform even better, and we’re sure the other boats will be back on our tail before very long.
Racing in front of a home crowd in Malta will be very different to racing anywhere else in Powerboat P1. As Malta is such a small island, everyone knows who I am, so there is a lot of extra attention – and a lot of extra pressure to keep winning this weekend. It can be hard work, but it’s good exposure for me and for Chaudron.
Yes – I also have another interest in how well our Chaudron boat does in the race, as Chaudron is my family’s business. The family is all very hands on in the company, so being successful in Powerboat P1 is very important to us.
Something that not a lot of people probably know is that, when I’m not racing or building powerboats, I do a little bit of drag racing in a 150mph V8-engined car. It’s very different to powerboat racing, though – in fact, there’s a lot more hard work involved in powerboat racing, as you have to navigate the course and keep ahead of your rivals, all while bouncing across the waves. Having said that, I can’t wait to get back out there. It should be great!