This weekend, from April 29 to May 1, large-scale sports events took place in the Belgian city of Mons. The most notable of them, the twelve-hour endurance race of speedboats.
Among the 15 best speedboat teams, Latvia was represented in this legendary competition by the team Riga Powerboat team with high-class pilots – Latvian Nila Slakter and Estonian Stefan Aranda!
The team has already proven itself in this composition in the 2022 Endurance competition in Augustow, Poland, winning the 6-hour endurance race stage and winning 3rd place overall, so the team decided to start the competition in the same composition. Both pilots drove a Formula 4 speedboat manufactured by Lonnberg in the competition.
The competition was given 6 hours and the winning team was determined by the number of laps completed. The competition took place over 2 days, in total the pilots competed for 12 hours.
The Grand Large lake, where the competition took place, is of a closed type and is surrounded on the sides by concrete curbs. Such a surface makes this a particularly high-danger course, with extremely large waves and collision possibilities during the race. This danger was demonstrated during free practice, when several accidents occurred and the buoys that mark the track were repeatedly damaged.
Since this is not a standard competition, there are specific rules for both the pilots and the technical team composition, so the Riga Powerboat Team pilots and the technical team used the opportunity to go through a simulation, during which they performed a complete change of pilots three times, as well as other specific trainings that were closer to the real competition for the situation.
Out of 15 speedboat teams, 2 teams started with 4 speedboat pilots, 5 teams with 3 speedboat pilots and 8 teams, including our Riga Powerboat Team, started with 2 speedboat pilots. During the competition, pilots are changed every 2 hours, as well as refueling.
In the first stage of the competition, on April 30, the Riga Powerboat team announced its start with a convincing performance – winning 1st place in the first 15 minutes. Unfortunately, the technical condition of the boat deteriorated rapidly and the team was forced to carry out a technical inspection of the speedboat during the following competition. Since it was not possible to determine the technical problem, the team made a decision to make a complete replacement of the equipment and use new, untried parts for the competition. Such daring behavior paid off and in the final 15 minutes of the competition, the Riga Powerboat team returned to the competition track. At least 40% of the number of laps of the leading team must be completed in order to count the race points. The Riga Powerboat team also succeeded and got 3 points.
The next day, which was also a new stage of the 6h endurance ride, the team went to the starting line in a very fighting mood. The pilots did not take part in the free training, because, quoting the team’s radio man, the titled speedboat pilot Mārtis Bergholtz: “The strong don’t need it, the weak won’t be helped either!”, the pilots were immediately ready for the endurance competition.
The competition was started by the Estonian Stefans Arands, who immediately took the 1st position and successfully held this position for 2 hours. After 2 hours, there was a change of speed boat pilots as well as refueling, during which the Latvian team surpassed the Swedish team in terms of the number of laps. However, immediately after returning to the track, Riga Powerboat team pilot Nils Slakteris overtook the competitors and continued the competition in 1st position.
The fiercest battle in this competition for Latvia took place between the Swedish teams, which have highly titled speedboat pilots with convincing experience in endurance competitions. Team results were side by side, but Riga Powerboat team took the lead!
The work of the Formula 4 speedboat pilots, radio man, team and technical specialists was convincing and the Latvian team won the 1st place in this competition!
Historically, this prestigious 12-stud endurance race takes place in mid-July in Augustow, Poland, and this year will not be an exception, so the Riga Powerboat team still has two 6-hour endurance races ahead of it, which will determine the champion of the 24-hour endurance race.
Photo: Publicity image
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