Pressure mounts for powerboat hopefuls

B.A.R F1 team's search for a driver and navigator draws to a close with the final of Powerboat Racers Challenge

B.A.R F1 team’s search for a driver and navigator to race its Honda Formula 4-Stroke 225hp powerboat throughout 2003 draws to a close this week when the final of Powerboat Racers Challenge takes place at Cowes on Thursday 27 March.

The final sees five drivers and five navigators battle it out during a series of tests including driving the race boat alongside world Class One powerboat champion Steve Curtis, navigating alongside expert instructor Peter White and undergoing filmed press interviews with Motor Boat & Yachting’s Editor Tom Isitt. The judges will then present the winning pair with their B.A.R race overalls and helmets.

“The test procedure has to be quite tough, the prize demands it, comments Andrew Lowe from B.A.R. “We are lending a £40,000 race machine to a pair of amateur enthusiasts, supplying their team kit and paying their race entry, race fuel and all boat storage and boat upkeep. It is an unprecedented deal in powerboating. In return we want a team who will be professional, media savvy, focused and who will win races. We have designed Powerboat Racers Challenge to test these attributes and we’re confident that the winning driver and navigator will form a team to be reckoned with.”

“Powerboat Racers Challenge has attracted a huge amount of interest since we launched it at the London International Boat Show in January this year,” comments Martin Sanders, General Manager, Power Equipment Honda (UK). “The calibre of entrants gave us a hard task creating a short list of just ten. However, we were pleased to have such experienced competitors to choose from. There’s no doubt that the competition in the 2003 225hp championship will be tough, with no less than twelve identical 75mph powerboats lining up for the first start in Bangor, Northern Ireland this June.

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