Seagull Chaudron consolidate lead after sprint victory
Malta GP viewing reaches two million
Champions Aaron Ciantar and Angelo Tedeschi, along with navigator Viktor Shemcuk, consolidated their lead at the top of the Supersport championship yesterday after winning the Sprint Race and the fifth round of the P1 World Championship at the Italian Grand Prix of the Sea in San Benedetto del Tronto.
Ukrainian Spirit (Seagull Chaudron) finished the race in 34:15.53, two seconds ahead of Italy's Baia Attolini, of Stefano Acanfora, Renato Guidi and Roy Capasso.
Racing Project (Chaudron Ikocasa) of Shelley Jory and Audrien Ciantar, winners of the Turkey GP last month, were third in 34:24.07, just ahead of SW1 Capital (34.33.68).
During Friday's PowerPole session, Baia Attolini, in front of the home crowd, were looking to apply some pressure on Aaron Ciantar and Tedeschi and acquired the best timing of 3:14.31.
Ukrainian Spirit were a fraction of a second slower in qualifying but yesterday the story was different as Ciantar and Tedeschi won a tactical race to open a 26-point gap at the top of the provisional standings.
Seagull Chaudron are now leading on 450 points with Baia Attolini second on 424 and Chaudron Ikocasa third on 401.
Another victory today would set Seagull Chaudron on their way to retain the Supersport title with three more grands prix to go.
In Evolution, yesterday's Sprint Race was won by SNAV OSG (Cangiano/Carpitella) who got back in the reckoning after finishing ahead of Cigarette Smash Poker and Metamarine Pignolo in an all-Italian podium.
Today's first Endurance Race starts at 2 p.m.
The next Grand Prix will be hosted by Sweden (Gothenburg) between August 7 and 9.
TV ratings
The P1 World Championship organisers revealed that over two million viewers had tuned in to watch the Malta Grand Prix of the Sea, the opening leg of this year's racing calendar in May.
Eurosport told P1 that its viewing ratings for the three magazine shows, broadcasting the racing weekend in Malta, had reached an excellent 2,045,000.
The Malta Grand Prix of the Sea was held between May 8 and 10 with most of the action depicting the stunning background of the Grand Harbour in Valletta.
Meanwhile, P1 announced a new sponsorship with champagne suppliers Jarvis of St James.
The agreement sees St James supply the Premier Cru champagne for podium celebrations. Owner Tim Jarvis also operates a champagne bar at each Grand Prix of the Sea event.