Like the qualifiers and the first two races on Saturday, the 20-lap finale of the Nexa P1 Powerboat Grand Prix was largely a one-boat show, the boat being number 150 piloted by Sam and Daisy Coleman.
Starting out neck and neck with boat number 99 (James Norvill and Christian Parsons from Money on Mobile Marlins), the Coleman-duo dived into the first corner through the inside, and there on maintained their lead position. They managed a 4sec lead over second spot by end of the first lap itself, with 99 and 21 (Craig Wilson and William Enrique from Lloyds Dolphins) fighting hard for the second position. Boat 21 got into third.
Starting from the middle of the 11-boat grid, Gaurav Gill and George Ivey, racing in Ultra Sharks boat number 10, quickly slipped into fourth, followed by Stuart and Lara Cureton from Lloyds in boat number 11.
Despite the impressive performance by the Colemans, the Baleno RS Boosterjet team still had a tough fight ahead as their second team boat piloted by CS Santosh and Martin Robinson was still nowhere close to the top five positions during the race.
Meanwhile, the Curetons managed to slip past Gill and Ivey into fourth, and there on, the Indian rally driver’s boat kept slipping behind. The boat had a faulty engine mount due to which Gill’s team had to cut down pace; the duo finished last.
By lap 5, the leaders had an 8sec lead over second position, and were followed by both Lloyd Dolphins boats 21 and 11. Consistent performance by the Lloyds team virtually ensured them victory in the championship due to their overall points advantage. Boat 21 also managed to close the lead on the 150, down to 3sec by lap. The other disadvantage with the Coleman pair was that that they hadn't completed any of their long laps.
The lead boat, however, managed to complete the long laps just in the nick of time while maintaining the lead and quite an impressive 14sec one at that. Their victory in all three races got the Baleno RS Boosterjet team on top of the points board, hence the championship. Team Lloyds Dolphins finished runner-up in the championship.
Here’s a look at the boats with the maximum points:
Pos Boat No Boat Name Driver Navigator Points
1 150 BALENO RS BOOSTER JETS Sam Coleman(UK) Daisy Coleman(UK) 60
2 21 LLOYD DOLPHINS Craig Wilson(USA) William Enrique(USA) 47
3 99 MONEY ON MOBILE MARLINS James Norvill (UK) Christian Young(UK) 46
4 11 LLOYD DOLPHINS Stuart Cureton (UK) Sara Cureton (UK) 40
5 10 ULTRA SHARKS Gaurav Gill (IND) George Ivey (USA) 34