Drainstore.com sponsored powerboat wins championship in Isle of Man.

Posted on Monday, 15 September 2008 09:08AM by

The Honda Formula 4-Stroke Powerboat race series made a spectacular end to the 2008 race season on Sunday 14th September in Douglas Bay as they completed the race finals in front of spectators after some dramatic racing over the two day event. The day kicked off with the first 150hp race leaving the start line at 11:30am. Team Williams took an early lead and pushed on leaving an incredible gap between themselves and tailing boat Drainstore.com who have been leading the championship since the start of the season. In the first lap Salcombe racing had missed a buoy and concerns that they had lost their second place in the championship were confirmed as they took to the back of the pack to continue the race. Spirit of Octane jumped in the third place spot as they nudged the Cougar NZ boat out of the top pack when they took the finish line. In the 150hp second race Ebel set of taking the top position despite the rough water fighting the fleet. The team sponsored by Ebel watches the ‘Official Timing Partner’ of the series left the rest of the boats in their wake as they maintained position until the finish. They were followed by Team Williams and Construction Racing respectively. Poor sea conditions had developed by the afternoon as the 225hp fleet prepared to line the race course. Team Williams 225hp took a matching lead to their smaller 150hp comrades with driver Scott Williams of Liverpool leaving disaster in his wake as Kris Mitra and John Mendez in Xcite stopped in the first lap suffering a broken steering hose and snapped engine mount and Buildbase who also snapped an engine mount on a bend capsized their boat and lost both crew members. “We were on good conditions when it happened and have now lost our sixth place in the championship over this,” said driver Mark Cockman. Only one point separated Negotiator and heightsofabraham.com who were leading the Championship when Negotiator stopped on the final lap moments before passing the chequred flag. The team had been playing a good game when they suffered a power loss and were left behind by over taking boats including heightsofabraham.com who jumped into a final third with Lings in second and Team Williams remaining in first. The day finished with the final 2008 podium prize giving ceremony which was presented by Geoff Matthews Head of Honda (UK) Power Equipment and Hon Martyn Quayle MHK Minister for Tourism and Leisure. “This has been a very successful end to what has been a remarkable season. It has been a challenging year for us all but we have had a great time and are pleased to have now announced that Honda will continue to back the F4SA for the next two years,” said Geoff. Completing the Honda Formula 4-Stroke 2008 Championships in first place were 150hp Drainstore.com crewed by Jak Cockman and Andy Phips along with 2007 Championship winners 225hp Negotiator crewed by Gavin Parsonage and Nathan Libby. “Winning the series for two years running has been great, we have plans now to move on to allow us to expand our powerboat racing careers in to a 6litre class. We have enjoyed being involved with this series and have made some fantastic friends here. I will be sad to move on but our time has come and we wish all of the other competitors the best of luck in 2009,” said Gavin. “It was announced yesterday that we had won the 150hp Championship as we had more points than any other team. All I can say is that we are going to have a huge party in Douglas tonight,” said Andy Phipps – Navigator of Drainstore.com. The series now moves onwards and upwards for 2009 with an Awards Dinner to acknowledge the teams on the 1st November in Bristol. The Championship winning boats will be on display at the Sail, Power and Watersports Show at Earls Court this November along with some of the series other boats.