Ali al-Neama and Billy Moore in Spirit of Qatar 20.
Agencies/Sarasota, Florida
The Spirit of Qatar Team suffered mixed emotions at the 30th Annual Suncoast Super Boat Grand Prix Festival at Sarasota in Florida on Sunday.
Qatar’s Ali al-Neama and American throttleman Billy Moore entered Spirit of Qatar 20 in the Superboat class and reached the chequered flag of the 18.75-race in fifth position after late overheating issues. But Nasser Saleh al-Attiyah and Matteo Nicolini lost a potential second overall in the Superboat Unlimited class after withdrawing with engine issues on lap five. They were eventually classified in third position.
Marc Granet and Scott Begovich clinched victory in the Superboat Unlimited class and Team Stihl won its third successive Superboat class race of the season.
Al-Attiyah and Nicolini faced Marc Granet and Scott Begovich in Miss Geico, Bob Bull and Randy Scism in CMS and Nigel Hook in Lucas Oils Silverhook in the Superboat Unlimited class on the 4.4-mile course.
Team Stihl’s J.R. Noble and Mark Kowalski came into the third SBI Superboat race of the season with two wins under their belts from rounds one and two and started as favourites to extend their lead in the title race over WHM Motorsports. Cleveland Construction, Broadco, Racing for Cancer, Warpaint and Spirit of Qatar 20 completed the Superboat line-up.
CMS led from Miss Geico and Spirit of Qatar 613 through the opening turns in Superboat Unlimited and Spirit of Qatar 20 held fourth in Superboat behind Team Stihl, Broadco and WHM Motorsports. CMS then became locked in a fascinating early tussle with Miss Geico for Unlimited superiority, as Stihl began to edge away from BroadCo
Miss Geico passed a struggling CMS on the next lap, but Stihl stayed well clear of Broadco and WHM in Superboat. Miss Geico and Stihl continued to lead their respective classes as the race progressed. CMS was eventually sidelined with technical issues, Cleveland Construction flipped out of Superboat contention and Spirit of Qatar 20 became embroiled in a late tussle with WHM Motorsports.
Miss Geico held on to take the chequered flag and a second victory of the season in the Superboat Unlimited class and Team Stihl confirmed a third successive win in the Superboat category, but overheating problems dropped Spirit of Qatar 20 down to fifth place.
Standings
Superboat Unlimited
1. Miss Geico 113 1500 pts
2. Lucas Oil Silverbrook 77 1393
3. Spirit of Qatar 613 902
3. CMS 3 902
5. Gasse 8 558
Superboat
1. Stihl US-1 1645 pts
2. Broadco 05 1405
3. WHM Motorsports 5 1400
4. Automation-Racing for
Cancer 33 1078
5. Spirit of Qatar 20 814
6. Cleveland Construction 4 748
7. Warpaint 38 671
