Come March 3rd, India will witness some serious boat racing along the shores of Mumbai’s famous Marine Drive. Powerboat P1 which was formed in 2003 has held more than 200 racing events in 17 countries since its inception and is now set to hit Indian waters in a month’s time.
James Durbin, the CEO of P1 Global opened up to Sportskeeda ahead of the marquee racing event which was started back in 2010.
“We’ve been racing in the U.K, U.S and Europe at a national level. This event is the pinnacle of our efforts. We’re taking the national and regional champions and putting them on a world stage.”
A true test of talent
Unlike in F1, where cars are different for different drivers, all the boats taking part in this race will have identical engines and identical specifications. Hence, it all comes down to the sheer talent of the individual racer.
Over the last 5 years, P1 has been developing the sport and establishing who they reckon are the best pilots in the world. As per reports, there will also be two Indian racers who will take part in this competition.
Two-time Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) winner, Gaurav Gill and CS Santosh, a participant at the 2017 Dakar rally are set to represent India. The engines for these powerful boats are sourced from Bombardier Recreational Products, a Canadian company renowned for creating unique motor vehicles.
The competition
The 28-foot powerboat is powered by a 250 HP high upward engine and can reach top speeds of 120 km/hr - equivalent to 240 km/hr on land in terms of relative speed.
Unlike on land where vehicles are on a flat road, the race course on water always changes. The pilots of this boat will have far lesser control than when they’re driving a car. The length of this race will be 5.2 km.
A total of 7 teams will compete for the championship with each time having 2 boats each. While the qualifiers are set to take place on Saturday (March 4th), the final will take place on Sunday.
“Unlike Formula 1 where Hamilton attempts to force his teammate to lose, this is a true team championship, that will not happen. You’re not going to get team orders because it’s all about doing well as a team,” said James.
Asked about why he decided to bring Powerboat racing to India, James said, “There’s a lot of things about India, especially Mumbai as to why we chose this city. The opportunity here with 7,600 km of coastline, the rivers, the lakes is huge.”
“The ambition of Mumbai, it wants to become the biggest global city, we’re equally ambitious. We’re here to change the paradigm of India’s marine landscape,” he signed off.
Ticket Prices
The race will be free to watch. Specific (VIP) areas will be paid seats but a significant amount of the viewing space will be free of cost. Moreover, the fans will be able to watch the entire race track and not just one corner of the race.
