Chaudron driver Aaron Ciantar will not be having his sister Audrienne at the throttle this year when the Powerboat P1 championship gets underway in May in Italy.
The Malta Independent has learned that the local company Chaudron, owned by Aaron and Audrienne’s father Charlie, has sold last year’s yellow racer to a Belgian team which is taking part for the first time in the championship.
It is thought this move came after Aaron decided to join the Italian team Roscioli Hotels Roma, winners of the SuperSport Class. They had won the event and the title in a Chaudron boat last year and this year, they have made it a point to include Aaron in their team by offering him a very good deal.
However, this move means that there will be no Maltese team at the Championship this year because Audrienne, Aaron’s sister, has unfortunately had to be left out of the picture.
In the meantime, it is known that both the Italian owned Chaudron boat for which Aaron will be driving and the new Belgian team which will also have a Chaudron boat, will be carrying a Maltese flag. This was one of the conditions imposed by the local company when the boat was sold to the Belgians and also why Aaron decided to move to the Italian team.
Aaron is now expected to go to Italy soon to oversee the dismantling of last year’s Roscioli boat which will be rebuilt from scratch. Trials will be held soon after the boat is back in the water.
Even the boat sold to the Belgians has been dismantled and is being rebuilt by the Ciantar family locally. It is understood the Ciantars are doing their best to give the boat to its new owners by the end of February.
As can be seen from the above, the Maltese boat builder, Chaudron Powerboats, will still play a significant role in this year’s Powerboat P1 World Championship.
It all happened following confirmation that the Italian SuperSport world champion, Angelo Tedeschi, and his Racing Project team will defend its crown using its 2007 world-beating Mercruiser-powered Chaudron 41.
This is what Charlie Ciantar, said: "We originally started to build another 41-footer to race in P1 knowing that, in the hands of Aaron and Audrien, we would have a strong chance of winning the World Championship. However, this would put us head-to-head with Angelo who is not just a good customer but also a very good friend. It was a big dilemma, but then we received a firm order for a pleasure version of the Chaudron 41 which we decided to fulfil using the boat already in production.
"It was good business and at the same time ensured that we conformed with P1’s new production class regulations. One thing we can confirm, the Maltese flag will be flying high in 2008!"
The company is expected to make an official announcement of their plans for 2008 shortly.