Image of the Week: GEICO vs. Qatar Cat Fight
Among the best battles during yesterday’s Super Boat International Space Coast Grand Prix in Cocoa Beach, Fla., was the fight between the Miss GEICO and Spirit of Qatar catamarans in the Superboat Unlimited class. For the GEICO team’s throttleman Scott Begovich and driver Marc Granet, it was the third race of the season—and the first one they’d finish thanks to a blown water hose in one event and a broken drive shaft in another. For the Spirit of Qatar, it was the first race of the season with Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor Al-Thani stepping into the driver role for Nasser Al Attiyah and Matteo Nicolini handling the throttles.
Said Granet, “”That was brutal, but it was an excellent race.” Photo courtesy/copyright Pete Boden/Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.
And in a rough-water event that made preserving equipment just to finish the No. 1 goal for most teams, the Miss GEICO and Spirit of Qatar teams slugged it our for 10 grueling laps. In the end, the GEICO team took the win.
“That was brutal, but it was an excellent race,” Granet said (read the race wrap-up story) shortly after the event. “I think we both knew that we had to pace ourselves. That’s one of things we’ve learned in our experiences at Cocoa Beach. You have to pace yourself in rough water if you want to finish.”
and then