With great weather conditions and enthusiastic crowds watching on from the shores of St. Paul’s Bay, the 2019 VOOMQUEST Enemed UIM V2 Powerboat World Championship concluded its first Grand Prix after crowning Marine Diffusion #55 (Corsica) duo Domenique and Jean-Luc Martini as overall winners after the race weekend.

The team gathered top points in the first two races on Saturday and a second placing in yesterday’s final for a total of 57 points.

This was the first officially recognised VOOMQUEST World Championship held in Malta and has attracted six teams from four different countries.

Five-time powerboat racing world champion Aaron Ciantar,  the founder of the championship, told the Times of Malta he was very satisfied with how the event panned out, especially with it being the first world championship leg of the year.

“The response was incredible and I’m very happy about it because Malta deserves a championship of this calibre,” Ciantar remarked.

“We’ll be looking to replicate this and maybe even increase participation also from the spectators.”

Ciantar, the Chaudron Powerboats’ Managing Director, emphasised that the boats competing were all of the one-design class and would require performances from the pilots which are impeccable.

“The pilots and co-pilots did a great job over the weekend despite experiencing some rough conditions at one point in the GP” Ciantar explained.

“The new teams also performed well. I believe they’re on their way to becoming great professionals in the sport.”

This point was especially brought out by the winners of yesterday’s Race Three – Team El Diablo #88 (Malta), who are one of the new teams taking part.

Team El Diablo hold the chequered flag after winning Race Three in St Paul’s Bay. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

The local pair had started shakily in the first race but recovered soon after by getting a close second in Race Two and eventually taking first place in their last outing of the weekend.

This event was also the first time pilot Clive Butler and co-pilot Sammy Grima have competed as team-mates after having been on opposite sides many times before.

“We felt very comfortable working with each other. With the help of the team owners, we were able to push towards getting the results we ended up with,” the team said.

The El Diablo pilots praised the level of their competition in this event and also look forward to facing other teams in the next race.

“We hope to see other new teams  in the next race and we will continue to work hard to remain competitive. We believe that this is just the beginning for us.”

The next VOOMQUEST Grand Prix takes place off the Sliema promenade in June and is part of a long-term plan to continue organising these world championships.

Both GP two and three are confirmed to take place in Malta while negotiations are taking place regarding the fourth and fifth.

Ciantar said emulating this kind of event “is essential for us to raise the level of our game in Malta and abroad, especially within the next five years.”