Aaron Ciantar and Domenique Martini, of Maltese team Chaudron, received their world championship trophies from former Formula One champion Jacques Villeneuve during last weekend’s gala ceremony hosted by the Union International Motonautique (UIM) in Monaco.

Ciantar and Martini topped the Offshore V1 class last season with 76 points in the final classification... 10 ahead of Italy’s Tommy One.

Villeneuve was the special guest on the occasion as all protagonists from the various 2014 powerboat championships assembled at the Salle des Etoiles for the World Champions Awards Giving Ceremony, the sixth in the series.

“It was a great privilege to receive the trophy from a renowned champion like Jacques Villeneuve,” Ciantar told Times of Malta.

“Although this was not the first time that I attended such a ceremony, it’s always a great feeling to be recognised for your achievements from the past season.

“We are already looking forward to the upcoming campaign.

“In fact, we are planning to race with the same Chaudron boat of 2014 and we have high hopes that we will be fast enough to defend our title.”

The 2015 world championship gets underway in May but so far the UIM has not finalised the calendar of races.

“We are supposed to start in May in eastern Europe but due to instability in that region the UIM has decided not to hold the season-opener there,” Ciantar said.

“The UIM is concerned about the safety of all the teams so another venue for the first race will have to be found.”

Ciantar said the 2015 championship calendar will be made up of four or five grands prix and Malta could feature among the venues.

“The UIM’s plan is to have five official races this year,” Ciantar said.

“Italy, Ibiza and the UAE will surely be involved. Malta is being lined up as a possible venue but discussions with the authorities here are still at an early stage so no decision has yet been made­.”