TEAM PROFILE
Powerboat P1’s sole Chinese entry enters its third season in the championship with a largely unchanged boat, but be in no doubt – the Ocean Dragon Racing team have their eyes firmly on the main prize after an outstanding first two years in offshore racing’s top emerging category.
The Ocean Dragon Racing crew were within a blown engine of winning the Supersport title in their 2006 debut year – a potentially remarkable achievement. They also put in some very strong performances last year, but such is the pace of improvement in Powerboat P1 that they finished a mid-ranking fifth in the championship.
Team owner and driver Martin Lai is fiercely competitive and is never there to make up the numbers. He and his team are fired up to achieve greater success. The Mercruiser-powered 382 FastTec was on the verge of victory a number of times, though, so expect the #08 Phoenix TV to be mixing it with the other Supersport front-runners in some thrilling battles during 2008.
2007 RECORD
The #08 Ocean Dragon Racing team gained momentum throughout the 2007 season after, by their standards, a relatively modest start to the year. In the second half of their campaign, they finished second in Germany, second in both rounds of the Grand Prix of UK and third in Belgium. The competition was unrelenting, though, and #08 Ocean Dragon Racing’s season-long performance translated into fifth place out of eight in the Supersport standings. The team did, however, receive an award in 2007 – P1 Moment of the Year. That was for a spectacular recovery during the Grand Prix of Belgium when his Sun Lik Beer-backed boat tilted to 60 degrees after hitting the wash from a competitor’s boat at full throttle.