Team Morton Water Takes Top Honors in P1 Opener
The first Powerboat P1 SuperStock USA Championship race of the season got off to an exciting start last weekend in Stuart, Fla., as father-and-son pairing Team Morton Water took the overall honors after defending champions Andy Biddle and Tracy Blumenstein ran into technical problems in Team Pro Boat in the opening heat and were penalized for jumping the start in the second heat.
Tom and Jason Morton came out strong in the opening heat on Saturday, finishing ahead of the other father-and-son team of Bill and Elijah Kingery, who are in their second full season of racing in P1. Third place went to James Norvill and Christian Young in the P1 Marine Foundation–sponsored boat.
The racing was competitive in the season opener for the Powerboat P1 SuperStock USA Championship in Stuart, Fla.The second heat saw Team Pro Boat take an early lead but race officials imposed a 30-second penalty for jumping the start. This handed the race win to Glen Gray and Daniel Racz in the Team AO Coolers boat. The Kingery pairing showed consistent form in the Pier 57 boat to take another second place, giving them the overall weekend lead heading into Sunday’s heats.
On Sunday, the Mortons continued their form to take the overall lead in the P1 SuperStock USA Championship. A first place in the opening heat and a second place in the final heat gave them 69 heat points, just three ahead of the AO Coolers boat that fought hard for the win.
“What a great weekend!” exclaimed Tom Morton. “We worked really hard to make up for where we placed in the second heat on Saturday. We’re heading home to North Carolina very happy and proud to be the championship leaders. We’ve got to get some practice in before the next race in Daytona as the conditions are going to be so different to this weekend.”
Second place in Sunday’s first heat went to Team Pro Boat, which was followed by the P1 Marine Foundation boat with United Kingdom pilots James Norvill and Christian Young. The final heat of the weekend was won by AO Coolers, followed by Morton Water and Pier 57.
Two full rookie teams also took to the water for their first race on Saturday with husband-and-wife pairings in both boats providing a great endorsement of the accessibility of the P1 SuperStock class. Craig and Cynthia Belfatto in Livorsi and Gene and Paula Weeks in Cheoy Lee Marine both showed great form with the latter finishing a credible fourth in Saturday’s second heat.
The next round of the P1 SuperStock Championship takes place in the challenging offshore waters off Daytona Beach on June 14-16. But before that, the UK P1 SuperStock Championship kicks off in Hull where US racers Andy Biddle and Tracy Blumenstein will be making their UK debut.
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