Italy, San Benedetto (9th – 11th May)

A gruelling 23-hour lorry journey from Belgium to Italy ended with the reigning world champions storming to victory in the first two rounds of the 2008 Powerboat P1 Grand Prix of the Sea season.

The Fountain 99 boat of 1st4Boats.com, arrived on the back of a transporter in San Benedetto on Saturday morning with just a few hours to spare after being held up in the port of Zeebrugge.

But with only minutes to test the boat before the Evolution Class endurance race, driver James Sheppard and throttle man Craig Wilson triumphed in a thrilling duel with the Lucas Oil boat of Southampton.

The Ilmor-powered Fountain 99 experienced engine problems in the early stages of the race but Sheppard and Wilson made up 13 second in the last three laps to come home comfortably in first place.

The pair then won the shorter 50 mile sprint race on Sunday bringing home a total of 200 championship points over the weekend.

Delighted team owner Ben Matley said: “It was an incredible team effort. After the problems we had getting the boat here, I would have settled for second or third place. But to win both races and pick up all the points was absolutely fantastic.

“It was touch and go whether we would make it, but everyone has done a magnificent job from the boys who drove the transporter down to the engineers and of course James and Craig who were superb.”