Little and Brown take European Championship by storm

Pete Little and Gavin Brown in V69 Brita Water won the V24 Powerboats UIM European Championship in Oregrund, Sweden yesterday (Friday). They ended the three race European championship (which had been held in Ramsgate, England, Arendal, Norway and Oregrund, Sweden) on a high, winning the final race with their customary finesse.

Hot off the start line as the green flag was raised were V8 (Jaguar Racing) driven by Ted Mannerfelt and navigator Richard Agnew and V24 (Doritos Extreme) with Charles Gardiner and James Sydenham. The rest of the fleet were packed closely together as they thundered down the straight out to sea and the first mark around a lighthouse. Both the lead boats had lost ground by the first mark and Powell (V7) and Little (V69) were right up there battling for the clear water at the front.

Rough seas on the long lap of the 50 nautical mile race sorted the men from the boys. Despite much airborne action with the boats flying high off a beam sea, Little and navigator Gavin Brown, never looked in danger of loosing the lead they had gained after the first lap. Superb cornering skills gave them the edge even in the tough conditions out at sea and Little was able to gradually to gain a lead of 33 seconds over his closest rivals Mark and Odette Priestley (V16 Express Logistics). Despite the difficult conditions the leaders were able to maintain an average speed of 71.82mph.

'It was probably the hardest race we've had this season,' commented a delighted Little. 'With such mixed up seas it is hard to read the waves and keep the boat level but I'm always amazed just how fantastic these boats are to drive, they just fly brilliantly and just keep on going even in the rough.'

The Priestleys produced a superb performance which gave them second place in the final race and also elevated them to second position in the overall European results. Having moved from 4 litre to V24 they have had a consistent season, highlighted by a win in Littlehampton a few weeks ago and now a popular and well deserved silver medal position in the Europeans.

Tom Powell and Danielle Strawford (V7 Playfair Offshore) had a great race, pulling out all the stops to gain on the Priestleys but they couldn't quite catch them and finally finished 22 seconds behind them in third place.

The unluckiest team of the day had to be V7 ColourPro/Colourmet with Ricky Hill and Alan Layton who started as one of the favourites to take the title. Hopes of that were dashed after the first lap when a spark plug became loose and they were forced to stop to fix the problem. They then played catch up for the next few laps but the leaders were long gone and their efforts proved fruitless.

Shelley Jory took the drive of V11 from Mark Pascoe who was unable to make the event. Sadly it was not to be her day and they raced at the back of the fleet finally managing to miss the last mark just short of the finish line.

V6 was being raced on an invitation basis by Claes Westrlund, one of Sweden's most experienced 1.3 and 2 litre drivers. Unfortunately, a fuel starvation problem meant that they did not make it over the start line.

Race results - Oregrund European Championship 3rd round

Overall European Championship results:

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