20th Annual New-York SuperBoat Grand Prix Racers Competitors Join In 9-11 Services Before Race

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Superboats remember 9-11 as they blast past the Statue of Liberty '’Media Master’ conquored the Hudson River to claim third place in its class during the 20th New York Grand Prix.'    Rodrick Cox Team owner/throttleman Peter Meyer, with John Stanch on throttles, has piloted ‘Instigator' to victory on New York's Hudson River in the 20th running of the NY Super Boat Grand Prix.  ‘Instigator' won its class, Superboat Vee Unlimited, what some no doubt termed an obvious results after Meyer last week declared the Hudson River course his number one favourite. Meyer and ‘Instigator' also clocked the highest speed on the day, averaging an excellent 101.84 mph (163.89 km/hr) for the 77.2 mile (124.3 km) race. Competitors also joined in commemorative services to remember the terrorist outrage now recalled as 9/11.  There was some exciting racing in the hotly contested Superboat 750 Class with Jason Muller (driver) and Bill Mauff taking ‘WHM Motorports' home to the chequered flag, from ‘Talk ‘N Trash' (Jimmy Winters Jnr/Vincent Rifice) with ‘Warpaint', Robert Vesper and Daniel Crank aboard, coming home third.  Bill Mauff admitted he 'loves racing in New York.' 'It's a great race circuit with a spectacular skyline,' he said. 'I've always loved racing here and to come away with a win made it even better.'  For Mauff and his driver Jason Muller, the race may well have looked a relatively simple task as they steered their boat towards victory, but for another team ‘easy' did not come into the context.  For the Super Cat entry, ‘Popeyes' and its crew, driver Stan Ware and owner/throttleman Michael Stancombe, the pair thought it was all over for them when the steering wheel broke off the column. 'It just came away and I'm sitting there, holding the wheel with no control whatsoever over the boat,' Stan explained. 'Michael looked at me like, wow, we shouldn't be going this fast without a steering wheel.'  Peter Meyer’s ’Instigator’ averaged nearly 90mph (144 km/h) over the 72 mile (115 km) course to win Superboat Vee Unlimited. -  Rodrick Cox   Fortunately, Mike Stancombe is a quick thinker; he settled the boat down, grabbed a pipe wrench from the tool bag and secured it to the steering column. Believe it nor not, the make shift steering arm worked. Determination, ingenuity and perhaps being just a little bit crazy led Stancombe and his team to a deserving Super Cat Class victory.  Superboat Vee Unlimited and multi-vee bottom champion Peter Meyer described racing alongside the towering New York skyline as 'unbelievable.' Racing in his hometown, Peter said no one could get a better start to the day than by commuting by boat to the race course. 'Hop on a cruiser, take in the scenery, pull up at the marina and jump into the race boat, it just doesn't get any better than that,' he said.  A second boat carrying almost the same name, ‘Instigator Motorsports' was also a victor, winning the Manufacturer Production 1 class from ‘Shed's Plus' with ‘Media Master' claiming third. Driver Joe Sgro described the NY Grand Prix as 'a race that everyone gotta like.'  'With the wash slapping off the ferry boats and big holes appearing in the water you just don't know what's coming,' Joe said. 'That's what makes this race so much fun.'  Other teams that came away well pleased with their Hudson River performance included ‘US 1 Warpaint', ‘Loriblu Super Cat', its crew trialling a brand new MTI boat, and ‘Shed's Plus', another new boat for the season coming away with a well earned second place.