The 2011 Ocean Grand Prix World Powerboat Championship season gets underway in Malta next weekend with teams from Europe and North America set to compete in the historic first event. The former Powerboat P1 World Championship, now under new management and with an improved global TV deal, will see some of the world’s most powerful boats with a top speed of up to 110mph take to the waters around Valletta. The action promises to be fast, competitive and spectacular.
With the historic walled Citadel, a world heritage site, providing one of the most stunning backdrops of any major sporting event, the new season is keenly awaited by the teams, the public and Dr. Pio Valletta, Chairman of Championship promoters, International Sea Racing Ltd.
“After more than a year of planning, the first-ever Ocean Grand Prix event is now just a week away,” explains Dr. Valletta. “It has been a difficult process, picking up the pieces and rebuilding confidence, but we are heading in the right direction, supported by the Maltese Government and powerboating’s world governing body, the UIM. Now that we have secured the future of this much-loved sport, our aim is to establish the OGP World Championship as one of the world’s great sporting spectacles. Next weekend the Malta Ocean Grand Prix will mark the first real step on this path.”
For a decade Malta has played host to international endurance racing with large enthusiastic crowds a feature of the racing along with unpredictable seas that create the most demanding conditions for boats and pilots. The first action starts on Friday 10th with a sprint for pole into Valletta harbour, the first two rounds of the inaugural Ocean Grand Prix World Championship take place at 4 pm local time on Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th June 2011.
