Dean Stoneman wins in Pickfords
The 21 year old and his novice navigator Dean Paling (Southampton) were the class of the 14 strong field and were never under pressure throughout the 10-lap race. “We made a good start which is always important and then we simply made the most of the clean water on the opening lap to pull away”, Dean commented.
“It’s a great feeling to be back racing again.”
“It’s a great feeling to be back racing again.”
Behind Pickfords a titanic battle raged between PaLu driven by Simon Bayles (Battersea)/Philippa Baker (Kensington) and new Peters & May Racing crew Mike Lovell and Luke Elkin (both from Southampton). At the start Palu got away better to drop in behind the runaway leaders Pickfords but soon had Peter & May Racing challenging for second place. On lap three Lovell and Elkin squeezed past but the newcomers could not shake off a determined Bayles. “PaLu was handling better and better each lap as we adjusted the trim so I felt confident we could retake second place.”
Bayles and Baker retook second place on lap five and held on until the end as Peters & May Racing settled for the final podium place. In the closing stages reigning champion Pertemps closed in on Peters & May Racing but driver John Wilson (Coleshill) ran out of laps before the crew could mount a challenge. “We think the boat was carrying too much fuel so was over weight as almost everyone just went past at the start”, said Pertemps navigator Neil Scarborough (Monks Risborough).
Fifth place fell to the Typhoo crew of Andy Wilby (Fleet) and Jonny Allbut (Southampton). “ A poor start cost us the race”, he said. The new Edox crew of Ian Brusby (Doncaster) and Simon Wing (Newark) finished sixth ahead of rookies Nick Williams (Amersham)/Aaron Emmett (Farnham Common) in IFX Racing in seventh and the Oval Insurance-backed boat of James Norvil/Jon Collingbourne.
Whilst the P1 Panther 250 teams raced for pride rather than points, the P1 150 Class battle was a fully blown points scoring encounter. Champions Team Purple won the race comfortably, the married couple crew of Stuart and Sara Cureton never looking under pressure throughout the race.
Just like the Panther race, there was a cracking battle for second place featuring the Eclipse crew of Rose Lores (Stubbington)/Maj. Nigel Hindmarsh (London) and Macdonald Mermaid pairing of David and Kirsty Toozs-Hobson (Arundel). Eclipse made the better start and held the position but by the second lap was coming under increasing pressure from Macdonald Mermaid. They lapped within a boat length of each other until Eclipse spun on lap six enabling Macdonald Mermaid to pull clear.
In the closing stages father and daughter crew of Vince and Jade Berridge in Black Magic started to close in on Eclipse and they raced to the line side by side in the closest finish the class has been in recent seasons. Eclipse just held onto to third place by a whisker.
Heroic charity team Pertemps Mission Motorsport featuring ex service men Mark Neale (Tedworth House) and Gav Harvey (Salibury) survived some hairy moments as they were tossed around in the wash to finish fifth well ahead of the PowerTech Marine crew of Sam Whittle (Hampton Hill)/Andy Streeting (Camberley) in sixth.
Ends
