Pre-Flight Check-In with John Tomlinson

Made a note to myself last weekend: “Call JT pre AD Monday A.M.” So I did just that yesterday morning.

Of course, any respectable offshore powerboat-racing fan knows that “JT” equals John Tomlinson, the co-owner of TNT Custom Marine in Miami and one of the best—if not the best—throttleman in history. A bit more cryptic, “AD” stands for Abu Dhabi, the Middle Eastern country he races for on the Union Internationale Motonautique Class 1 circuit. To date, Tomlinson and driver Gary Ballough have won the first two races—both in Italy—of the 2015 UIM Class 1 season in the Abu Dhabi team’s 48-foot MTI (stands for Marine Technology Inc.) catamaran.

Tomlinson is optimistic about the upcoming SBI World Championships in Key West, Fla., for the CMS team, but far from overconfident. Photo courtesy/copyright Jay Nichols/Naples Image

That puts Tomlinson, who will board a plane bound for Abu Dhabi on Thursday night—hence the “pre” in my note to self—and Ballough in good shape to take the 2015 UIM Class 1 World Championship, as there are just two races left in this season. That’s right, the entire 2015 Class 1 season consists of just four races. No “world championship” round at the end in some exotic European or Middle Eastern locale, just four races and out.

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