Baia Attolini reduced the gap at the top of the SuperSport standings to 19 points on leaders Seagull Chaudron with their maiden victory of the 2009 Powerboat P1 World Championship season at the Italian Grand Prix of the Sea yesterday.
The crew of Stefano Acanfora, Roy Capasso and Renato Guidi, who celebrated his birthday yesterday, capitalised on the advantage gained following Friday's PowerPole to lead the race from the opening lap. It was a position they never let go for the duration of the 71.64 nautical mile race.
The Baia Attolini boat held off the initial challenge of Iko Casa hull on the first lap to maintain a three-second gap over the all-female crew of Shelley Jory and Audrienne Ciantar.
Victory was sealed when Iko Casa succumbed to technical problems. Jory and Ciantar were unable to complete the required distance to take championship points.
Seagull Chaudron (Aaron Ciantar, Angelo Tedeschi and Viktor Shemcuk) had to settle for second place with a time of 1:02:56.75 ahead of wild-card entry Saho and Team Al and Al's Big Sergio - the latter claiming its best placing of the 2009 season.
On Saturday, Aaron Ciantar and his crew won the Sprint race ahead of Baia Attolini.
Guidi, the Baia Attolini throttleman, now believes the title race is a two-horse race.
"I think the championship is now just between Seagull and ourselves," Guidi said.
"It is important to finish every race to win points. The Iko Casa boat did a fine job in Istanbul but did not get any points here. I hope we get another win in Gothenburg - I certainly do not see why this should not be the case."
MasForce, aka The Spirit of Belgium, was fourth following the withdrawal of Team SW1 Capital.
Blue Shaft finished a respec-table fifth.
OSG double
The crew of SNAV OSG capped a memorable weekend as they completed a double in treacherous conditions in San Benedetto del Tronto.
Giancarlo Cangiano and Giovanni Carpitella dominated the 76.99 nautical mile race from start to finish to keep their Evolution-class title hopes alive.
"I am very happy that this victory made up for the double no-score of Istanbul," said a delighted Carpitella.
"With the winning of the Italian Grand Prix of the Sea we have moved closer to the leader in the Evolution standings and ready to attack them in Gothenburg.
"We worked very hard between the races of Istanbul and San Benedetto and are very happy to find a good balance of the boat."
Only three boats managed to complete the gruelling Endurance race following the withdrawals of Lucas Oil Outerlimits and Cranefields Wine on the opening lap, Cigarette Smash Poker on lap three and Metamarine Pignolo 53 three laps from the end of the 13-lap race.
The retirement of Marco Pennesi and Luca Nicolini in the Metamarine boat enabled the British Silverline boat to take the third and final podium spot and maintain a healthy lead at the top of the standings. Belgian entry Furnibo finished second.
Leading standings
SuperSport: 1. Seagull Chaudron 593 points; 2. Baia Attolini 574; 3. MasForce 483; 4. Iko Casa 451.
Evolution: 1. Silverline 500 points; 2. SNAV OSG 381; 3. Cigarette Smash Poker 371; 4. Lucas Oil Outerlimits 337.