The Voomquest Enemed V2 Championship may have only been set up for one year but the Chaudron-powered circuit has done enough to gain the recognition of world governing body UIM who has accepted to take competition under its own umbrella.

Aaron Ciantar, the founder of the V2 Voomquest Championship, told a news conference yesterday that this is a proud moment for powerboat racing in Malta to have a championship that not only was formed in Malta but is also run a Maltese organization has been put on the world scene by the UIM.

“It has been three years since the idea of creating the V2 Voomquest Championship came about,” Ciantar said.

“The 2018 championship was a good trial for us to see whether we could take our product on the world scene and no doubt it turned out to be a great success. We had seven boats competing and they put up a great show throughout the season with some hard-fought racing.

“Last October, we headed to the UIM Assembly in Lebanon where our championship was put under scrutiny by the world governing body and I’m glad to announce that the V2 powerboat racing was given world championship status.

“I’m grateful to Enemed who have been behind us since day one and all the sponsors who are helping us to develop even more. So surely these are some exciting times for us.”

Ciantar said that the 2019 UIM Voomquest World Championship will be made up of five legs, with the opening three races scheduled to be held in Malta. At present, the championship will see the participation of seven teams but it could go up to eight if they successfully end negotiations with a Swedish team.

The season opener will be held at St Paul’s Bay between April 26 and 28 while the Sliema Promenade will host the second leg on June 14 and 15.

In September, the championship will host its third race at Marfa.

The 2019 UIM V2 Voomquest World Championship will get under way at St Paul’s Bay in April. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

Ciantar said that the remaining two legs will be held abroad and discussions are ongoing to finalise the two venues of the 2019 championship.

“There is a lot of interest in our championship from abroad to host our championship,” Ciantar said.

“At the moment  we are in talks with Dubai, Oman, India, Turkey, Cyprus, Corsica and Italy and hopefully in the next few weeks we will announce where will the final two legs be held next year.”

On his part, Kevin Chircop heaped praise on Ciantar and his team for managing to create a top-quality powerboat racing championship.

“We are really proud to be associated with the V2 Voomquest World Championship,” Chircop said.

“When these championships were proposed to us by Aaron Ciantar two years ago, it took little time for us to fully endorsed it as we knew that we were dealing with a professional person who is well-respected in the powerboat racing scene, having been a five-time world champion.

“We have been impressed by the level of organization they have managed to reach in the last year. If you had to compare the Voomquest V2 Village with that of other championships it is of far higher standard.

“I really hope that we can continue to work with Aaron and his team for many more years and I’m sure that the V2 championship will continue to enjoy a lot of success for years to come.”