Date Added: 2008-07-26

Lowestoft continued to celebrate the sunshine this weekend with the start of the Honda Formula 4-Stroke Powerboat Race series which kicked off today (Saturday) for the third leg of its 2008 UK tour. Honda representatives came to watch the excitement alongside other VIP’s and local dealers Lings.

Heat one of the Honda 150hp class was lead by Drainstore.com which is becoming a favourite position for the team this year. “The first three to four laps were really good battling with Premier Cru and Team Earls Court and it was pretty easy after that”, said driver Jak Cockman. After setting the best performance of his racing career in Plymouth, James Brooke driving in the 150hp class in Team Earls Court was close to setting a second 1st place but pulled in close behind Drainstore.com followed by Premier Cru in 3rd place.

In heat two crowds looked on to see some tight action from the 150hp fleet again with Team Purple pushing through fast into an early 1st place position with Driver Stuart Cuerton and Mandy Cowley, sister of Lowestoft’s 2007 Lings 150hp Champion driver David Cowley who now races in the 225hp fleet. “It just goes to show that racing is in our family’s blood”, said a proud Mandy. Qualifying in second was Salcombe Racing followed by Liverpudlians Team Williams in 3rd.

225hp Champions Negotiator had to give up their normal spot on the course when at last they were left behind in 2nd place as heightsofabraham.com lead heat one, almost knocking spectators off their seats as they finally mixed up the pack from the usual predictable Negotiator win. “I am absolutely ecstatic to get in front of them but we are not as complacent as Negotiator as they had a bit of a bad day today and I am sure they will be at it again tomorrow and back on form”, said Rupert Pugh, driver of heightsofabraham.com of today’s victory. In 3rd place were RealPlayer who fought well for a good position.

Local team Lings finished 6th due to a large chunk of their gear box coming apart during the race which was a huge disappointment for both driver David Cowley and Navigator Chris Jary. “We will be working hard into the night to get the boat ready for tomorrow’s race and are now in the B group where we plan to dominate from the beginning”, said David.

Finally the day came to a blistering end as the sun continued beat down on the competition with the 225hp second heat. Vortigern had a terrific start and achieved a good position with their foot well on the throttle as the flags changed. They were the first to mark 7 and continued to advance until the end. Race Control based at the Lings Honda Dealership are still in debate as the rest of this race is still under protest. Final results will be available tomorrow, (Sunday) when racing continues at 11am.