May 24, 2011 by SBI
Teams Converge on Cocoa Beach for Spectacular Offshore Powerboat Race
KEY WEST, Fla. (May 24, 2011) – The Season opener for the 2011 Super Boat International Racing Series was held this past weekend in Cocoa Beach, Fla. with the World’s fastest boats racing in perfect conditions on the Atlantic Coast, and Miss GEICO Racing taking the top spot. Fans were treated to a spectacular day of racing during the 2nd Annual Brighthouse Networks Space Coast Super Boat Grand Prix. Twenty-seven teams competed during the Sunday event and race teams treated fans to amazing speeds along with lead changes and near photo finishes.
“This was one of, if not, the best season opener we have had in the past 20 years of Superboat racing. Today’s race had some of the closest head to head racing and is like a new era for powerboat racing,” comments SBI President, John Carbonell. “We continue to tweak the race courses to make them shorter in distance and closer to the race fans along the beach. It has proven to be quite exciting for everyone including the teams.” In the earlier years of Super Boat Racing, teams would race off 50 miles and return. Now, with the more rectangle shaped stadium style racing, it brings fans up close to the action.
The 2nd Annual event brought out some unbelievable head to head battles with a near photo finish as Loriblu Fastboats.com edged out Team Stihl for a win in the Super Cat class. “It was just incredible today. We had fuel pick-up or some equipment issues that would slow us down in the corners, so we pulled off the course, and then pulled back on, as our boat came back to us. When we saw Loriblu had issues, we just had to stay in it. I think we both had the same problems and coming into the last turn, we were both off the pace. Then almost at the same time, we both picked up speed for the finish and they beat us by a boat length. It was a heart breaker,” comments J.R. Noble, owner and driver of Team Stihl.
Water and weather conditions were perfect, not only for the race teams, but also for the fans. This year’s event appeared to have record crowds lining the beach from Cocoa Beach Pier to Lori Wilson Park. And for those unfortunate fans who could not attend, Super Boat International and Space Coast Sports TV streamed the event live.
Other Super Boat winners included WHM Motorsports (Superboat Unlimited), GEICO Caveman (Superboat Vee Extreme), Absolutely Not (Super Vee Limited), Talbot Excavating (Superboat Stock), Twisted Metal Motorsports (P1), Zipp Express (P2) and Team Velocity (P4).
Local favorite Superboat Unlimited Team CMS (owned by Bob Bull) encountered mechanical problems early, but it wasn’t without a thrilling blow-by the Pier. Unlimited competitor, Billy Mauff comments, “I wish CMS could have lasted the race and we could have raced each other. This race and location is great. Unfortunately, I couldn’t make it last year but I’m glad I made it this year.”
Marc Granet, Driver of Miss GEICO comments, “Cocoa Beach could be the event of the year. This place is awesome and the crowds were lined up the entire length of the beach. It was absolutely incredible.”
With the support of Cocoa Beach and all the volunteers that made this possible, this weekend has turned out to be a marquee event on the Super Boat International circuit.
Next for Super Boat International
The next race for Super Boat International is June 3rd – 5th, the 21st Annual Miami Grand Prix in Miami, Florida. The dry pits will be located in Bicentennial Park and the race will start at 1:00 pm Sunday June 5th, off Miami Beach.