Super Boat Launches Successful Space Coast Grand Prix Event
Veteran Peter Meyer Races to Inaugural Win off Cocoa Beach
Cocoa Beach, FL (August 23, 2010) – Super Boat International (SBI) arrived Port Canaveral and the Cocoa Beach Space Coast area this weekend with high expectations for the inaugural Grand Prix event and they did not disappoint. Veteran Peter Meyer, of Instigator Motorsports, excited the crowd with a first place win in the Super Boat Vee Unlimited Class. Meyers took home the trophy, but exclaimed, “ Everyone won here today. This place has set the stage to be a marquee event like the ones that have been around for twenty years… I think everyone here had fun.” That sentiment was felt by many, all weekend long.
“This is a really great venue with waterfront restaurants (Milligan’s and Fishlips) hosting parties each night and the cranes right here next to the dry pits… it’s all in one spot, its great. Not only is the venue awesome, but also we had some great competition out there and the water conditions were perfect. People asked me what it was like going by the Cocoa Beach Pier and someone commented they could feel the spray from the boat on the pier… I guess you can’t get any better than that,” comments Meyer.
Another extreme team to excite the crowd had their own inaugural day. Michael Stancomb, owner/driver of the Lucas Oil Super Cat, was excited to race with his longtime hero. Michael said, “Being in the boat with Stan Ware, (Throttleman), and growing up reading about him, it’s like a dream come true for me. We were both probably a little apprehensive about each other, but it all went away after the first turn. We tried to hunt down Meyer and Joe [Sgro], but we just couldn’t quite do it. The weekend was great, the crowd was awesome, and to take home a checkered flag in the Super Cat Class to my dad, makes it a perfect day.”
SBI founder, John Carbonell continued with the sentiment of a positive weekend. “This was a great weekend overall. Our local producers Josh Blakely and Kerry Bartlett, the committee and all the volunteers did a great job to pull this off in a short period of time. We’re coming back earlier next year and we’ve already started planning.” When asked about the spectators and how it compared to other events, Carbonell was pleased.
“Inaugural events are always hard as we are getting the bugs worked out and boats to commit, but this was fantastic. I ran the racecourse to make sure everything was good and I started off the first wave of boats for the race. I thought it was a great crowd, but when we came out for the second heat, I just couldn’t believe how much the spectator fleet grew and how packed the beach was. There were two thousand boats lined for 2-1/2 miles down the track. The community really showed their interest and appreciation for offshore racing.”
Another very happy racer with international racing success was Gary Ballough with the Mapei Super Stock Cat outboard. Gary remarked, “When we came out of the inlet and headed past the pier, one of the memories I will takeaway from this weekend is looking at what seemed like 5000 spectator boats and 80,000 people on the beach, that was an awesome sight. To be able to go 100 mph down the beach and actually see the faces of people waving at us… what a great rush.”
Many teams had a successful weekend and many fans had the opportunity to watch some of the best Superboat offshore racing in the country. This 5th stop on the Super Boat International National Championship Series tour is primed to be an event that will last for many years.
The next race for Super Boat International is September 10th – 12th, the 20th Annual New York Super Boat Grand Prix on the Hudson River between lower Manhattan and The Statue of Liberty.
“ONLY THE BEST WIN IN KEY WEST”
