Date Added: 2008-08-17

The final race day of the Honda Formula 4-Stroke Powerboat Grand Prix weekend took place today (Sunday) in Liverpool in front of large crowds who came to watch the display despite the wet weather. Four races made up the penultimate race of the 2008 season as the fleet faced the unpredictable down pours that hit the Mersey.

The 150hp and 225hp classes raced for their podium positions in four spectacular battles that lasted 20 minutes each. Some of the most exciting performances developed as leading boats fought for just inches to take the chequered flag.

At 11am the 150hp fleet took off to a smooth start with the top three boats emerging immediately as Cougar Marine NZ, drainstore.com and Locamotion respectively. Drainstore.com managed to close the gap on the Cougar Marine NZ boys just seconds before the finish but officials at race control confirmed that the Cougar Marine NZ boat took the first place by a margin leaving drainstore.com just moments behind.

The second 150hp race saw a dramatic surge of the fleets edging their way for the leading positions. The boats ran fast along the straight and tight through the turns with Cougar Marine NZ climbing up through the field fighting to get in front to catch Team Ebel who sat in a tight second behind brothers Tom and James Plant who took the first win of their racing career in Quality Racing.

In the afternoon the 225hp fleet set off on race one with one of the most exciting fights for the front position as Scream-it.com tried to hold of Negotiator who were pushing hard in their wake, but despite Scream-it.com’s advantage Negotiator took the lead on the inside line leaving Richard George and Nikki Sanders a few boat lengths behind.

Heightsofabraham.com driven by husband and wife duo Rupert and Sophie Pugh took third place and put up a good fight with Scream-it.com as they tried to steal their second place position behind Negotiator. However in an unbelievable twist as the two closed in over a bend Sream-it.com Navigator Nikki Sanders was thrown from the boat as driver Richard George hit the wake left behind by Negotiator. Also to hit the water in a tight corner were Vortigern who lost both crew members when the boat was flipped upside down.

Race two of the 225hp class was met with more up turning as local competitors Team Williams lost their course as they hit a wake and were left bottom’s up minus both Scott and Ken Williams. Both crew were left un harmed. “Not a great result for us but that’s just racing, you win some you lose some but we are overall happy with a great weekend albeit a little soare”, said Scott Williams – Driver of Team Williams 225hp. The same race saw Delmar take a huge lead on the rest of the fleet with heightsofabraham.com in second followed by Power of Dreams Germany in third.

The weekend rounded up with the podium prize giving ceremony which was hosted by local rugby league squad members Shane Grady and Scott Yates of Widnes Vikings along with Honda representative Mick Horsfall outside the new Echo Arena. The final of the 2008 Championship will take place on the Isle of Man in September.