Impressive Conam Yachts secure Tunisia double

SuperSport front-runners, Conam Yachts, of Angelo Tedeschi and Aaron Ciantar, chalked up their seventh win of the 2008 Powerboat P1 Championship in yesterday's Tunisian Grand Prix of the Sea sprint, securing overall honours for the weekend.

The double win - allied to a 50-point bonus for running the first half of the year without an engine change - gives Conam Yachts a remarkable 210-point advantage in the championship.

Contacted in Hammamet immediately after the podium presentation Ciantar was overwhelmed.

"I am really happy that we managed a one-two in Tunisia," he said.

"Today's race was completely different. While in Saturday's race we spent seven laps trying to get the lead from VoomVoom and Saho respectively, today we led as from the first lap. We still did not have a perfect start since we were second in the opening straight but managed to overtake VoomVoom as we turned the first buoy."

The VoomVoom.com squad - currently Conam Yachts' closest rivals - were the only team to stay within touching distance of the reigning champions at the start of the race, but Tedeschi and Ciantar quickly opened a comfortable lead that proved impossible to beat.

VoomVoom.com had to settle for second place in the Grand Prix of the Sea trophy chase.

Phoenix TV took the final podium spoils of the Sprint race, while fourth place was a superb result for the returning Sunseeker Team. After a two-race sabbatical, following the sinking of their boat in Marseilles, this was a fantastic comeback weekend by the British squad.

Wild card entry, Team Tullio Abbate, edged Silverline Buzzi Bullet and Big Sergio in the final race to take the final Grand Prix of the Sea podium spot.

It was double jeopardy for the Donzi crews, though, as Baia High Performance OSG did not complete the first lap and Saho failed to start with a transmission problem.

50-point bonus

The Powerboat P1 teams that pick up the mid-season 50-point bonus for completing the first half of 2008 without changing their engines have been confirmed.

The addition (or not) of the bonus - effectively worth half a race win - has subtly changed the balance of play at the top of the Evolution and SuperSport championship title fights.

VoomVoom.com missed out on the 50-point bonus in SuperSport to allow third-place Baia High Performance OSG to close within striking distance in the standings.

In Evolution, engine changes for Kiton Outerlimits and GFN Gibellato mean that they lose 50 points to championship-leading team Fountain Worldwide.

The teams that were granted the 50-point bonus were: Conam Yachts, Baia High Performance, Saho, Phoenix TV, Sunseeker Challenger, Big Sergio and Chaudron Spirit of Portomaso.