#10 Fantastic 1 wins Evo PowerPole

Friday 26 September 2008

The #10 Fantastic 1 Cigarette team secured Evolution PowerPole honours in Portugal

The #10 Fantastic 1 Cigarette Evolution-class team and the #44 Conam Yachts SuperSport-class crew stole a march on the competition in today’s PowerPole session for the Portuguese Grand Prix of the Sea. Both teams topped their respective classes by a considerable margin in the mirror-smooth waters off the coast of Portimao.

The key teams to watch in the Evolution class were #99 Fountain Worldwide 1st4boats.com and #60 GFN Gibellato, both of whom are fighting for the title in this weekend’s season-closing double-header. The #99 Fountain Worldwide team – the current championship leaders – finished third in the session, just three seconds off the leading pace, while the second-placed #60 GFN Gibellato team were fifth-fastest in the PowerPole session, another four seconds back.

In the SuperSport class, the #44 Conam Yachts team may have already secured their second consecutive title in Vigo, Spain, but they proved in today’s PowerPole session that they’re not prepared to back off as they bid to add to their season-long streak of race wins. Just under 10 seconds behind, in a close battle for second, the #38 Baia High Performance team narrowly edged out the #07 Microlink PC outfit.

On Saturday morning, the SuperSport Sprint race starts at 11:00 local time (10:00am GMT), while the Evolution Sprint race gets the green flag at 16:15 local (15:15 GMT). Sunday’s timetable is very similar, with the season-closing SuperSport Endurance race at 11:00 local (10:00am GMT) and the potentially title-deciding Evolution Endurance race at 16:15 local (15:15 GMT).

Sunday’s race action will be broadcast live on subscription channel Sport TV (www.sporttv.pt) – the first time that direct-to-air coverage of a Powerboat P1 event has been carried on a television network, while crowds at the Marina Portimao will be able to watch the action live on the big screens and listen to live commentary on local radio station Kiss FM, broadcasting on 95.8FM and 101.2FM.

Evolution-class PowerPole times

SuperSport-class PowerPole times