The 14 competing teams in the 2005 Portomaso Grand Prix of Malta will start to assemble this week in Great Harbour, Viset Terminal, in preparation for the first round of the 2005 UIM Powerboat P1 World Championship.
Among them will be Team Thuraya, the undoubted Powerboat P1 champions of Malta in 2004, who not only won both rounds of the Grand Prix of Malta but also established a new UIM World Speed Record – 42m, 50s – for the circumnavigation of the Island.
This Italian team went on to win the 2004 Evolution Class Powerboat P1 World Championship and for 2005 remain the team to beat.
Team Thuraya pilot Adriano Panatta is probably best known as one of the world’s leading tennis players of the 1970s. A clay court specialist, he was born in Rome in 1950 and became a household name, winning 222 matches and five singles titles including the French Open at Roland Garros in 1976. He is the only player to have ever beaten the legendary Bjorn Borg in Paris and he did it twice, in 1973 and 1976.
One journalist demanded a monument be erected in the centre of Paris ‘to celebrate this remarkable achievement’.
On Saturday Panatta and fellow Team Thuraya pilots Claudio Castellani and Giuliano Salvatori will be looking to serve up another remarkable achievement as they aim to win the Portomaso Grand Prix of Malta and break the World Speed Record for the circumnavigation of the Island.
This is what he had to say about the forthcoming event: “This year will definitely be very competitive, all the teams competing in Evolution have a chance to win races and most have the potential to win the World Championship.
“However, they will have to race hard to take our crown. We have three pilots who work well together and have the experience to win races. We are supported by an excellent team, highly professional and with a great team spirit.
“The boat is competitive and reliable and well prepared for the races ahead. We are delighted to be returning to Malta to defend our title”.
The Portomaso Grand Prix of Malta, the opening event of the 2005 UIM Powerboat P1 World Championship, takes place over the coming weekend. For further information, including a race timetable and spectator viewing guide, visit www.powerboatp1.com.