Date Added: 2008-07-03

The Honda Formula 4-Stroke (F4SA), the world’s largest off-shore powerboat race series is due to make a welcome return to Lowestoft this Saturday July 26th & Sunday 27th for the third leg of the 2008 Powerboat Championship.

The Honda F4SA comes-back to Lowestoft for a second time after their success in 2007 when a fleet of up to 40 powerboats raced in front of huge crowds of over 90,000. It was one of most successful race weekends the F4SA has enjoyed, and there is huge anticipation that this year’s event will be just as successful - if not more so.

The Seafront Air Festival, held in the beautiful seaside town of Lowestoft, has enjoyed a great following over its 12 years. Huge crowds have been drawn to the beach to watch the thrilling stunts and spectacular flypasts, or to just take a break to soak in the carnival atmosphere.

The return of the Honda F4SA to the weekend’s program gives adrenaline-junkies yet more to be excited about - the incredible spectacle of dozens of powerboats jostling for position is one not to be missed, and with the superb sea views available at the unspoilt Lowestoft beachfront there’s no excuse not to!

The Honda F4SA combined with the Lowestoft Seafront Air Festival has been a boom to local tourism, bringing millions of pounds to the Waveney area. The area itself has seen huge regeneration in the last few years but has retained its cultural heritage. Alongside traditional shops and pubs, there’s the famous Lowestoft Ness, the most easterly point in Britain, marked by the ‘Euroscope’, which points out distances and directions to major European and British locations. The reopening of Lowestoft Porcelain has also bought with it a museum depicting the historic story of this important part of Lowestoft’s past.

The Honda F4SA has been central to this period of regeneration, extending what had previously been a two-day Air Show into a spectacular four-day program packed with excitement. The Bolddog Motorcycle Display team will be astonishing crowds with their amazing stunts, while the impressive Honda Village will be showcasing hundreds of products. The world-famous Red Arrows will also be performing alongside the supersonic Typhoon jet and the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, which boasts such historic aircraft like a Spitfire and Lancaster bomber among its numbers. As part of the festival itself Lowestoft will be transformed, with local music and entertainment in the streets, stalls and fun fair rides for children of all ages and fascinating military displays and exhibitions, and even a Sea Rescue demonstration.

The Lings Racing team, based in Lowestoft, have recently made the step up to the more challenging and powerful 225 horsepower class after the outstanding achievement of winning the 150 horsepower series in only their first full season on the water.

While the more powerful boat has presented a new set of challenges, the team are confident that they can get another great result on home water, following on from their dramatic 2nd place finish in last years event. Team Navigator and Lings Operations Director Paul Barkshire said about the return of the event; “We've worked really, really hard, but for Lowestoft to host the series for a second time is a great achievement. We've worked closely with the Air Show team and they have all been extremely positive about making it happen.”

Driver and Lings Lowestoft Car Sales Manager David Cowley can’t wait to get out on the sea: “It was fantastic to get a second place finish in front of a huge home crowd – we’re just hoping we can go one better this year and get a win! It’s a great event and a fantastic showcase for the Waveney area.”

You can keep up with all things Lings Racing on www.lings.com