F1-CHAMPBOATS TURN A PAGE IN EVANSVILLE RACING HISTORY!
WORLDS FASTEST TURNING RACERS READY TO HIT OHIO RIVER!

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EVANSVILLE, Indiana – June 2, 2009 – For the first time in their 30 year racing tradition, the great people of Evansville, Indiana will get to see the worlds most exciting racing series, the 2009 F1-ChampBoat Tour presented by AMSOIL as it arrives on the 20th and 21st of June for this years “Old National Bank Freedom Festival” on the challenging Ohio River.

Evansville, the lovely river city whose race fans saw powerboats for the first time headline the Downtown Freedom Festival back in 1979, are used to seeing and hearing the roar of hydroplanes run a series of short races over a two day schedule. This year they will get a chance to witness a truly international field of drivers putting on a show on a 1.0 mile multi pin course that will see speeds of close to 140 miles an hour while hooking into the corners at close to six g’s making them the fastest turning race vehicles in the world!

“We are excited about becoming a part of this year’s “Evansville Freedom Festival,” said series President Michael Schriefer. “I know the fans are used to the bigger unlimited boats, which are great, but I also know that once they see how these boats compete against one another close to shore at speeds of 140 miles and hour and how quickly they turn as well, they will instantly fall in love with this sport and make it their own by the end of the weekend”.

The F1-ChampBoat Tour highlights it’s 25th Anniversary season in 2009 with Evansville being the second stop on the tour that will run until early November with it’s final race in Naples, Florida. The Freedom Festival marks the first of back to back race events that will see the F1-ChampBoat Tour head the following weekend to Bay City, Michigan for the 22nd Annual “Bay City River Roar” which has been a tradition for over two decades on the 27th and 28th of June on the Saginaw River.

With a similar appearance to that of an Indy Car, these F1 catamaran boats are 17 to 18 feet long and are made to create lift and fly on top of the water with a tunnel of air running down the middle of the boat to keep it from settling in the water with only the last foot of the boat actually touch the water for stability as it navigates a series of corners on each lap. Using the trim, the boats then settle back into the water for creating mind blowing cornering speeds.

F1 boats price tag can reach $100,000 each when new and they are powered by a V-6 Mercury and Johnson outboard engines that can put out close to 400 horsepower while pushing these 1100 pound missiles with the driver on board for close to 45 minutes during Sunday’s final Grand Prix event.

The weekend will feature not only drivers from North America but others from around the world that will be flying in from as far as nine time zones away to compete in the event making this a truly international Grand Prix happening, something that has never been seen at a professional boat race in the city of Evansville before. 

Indiana native Terry Rinker of the Amsoil Racing Team, who now resides in Tampa, Florida, is the defending series champion looking for his record tying fifth title in 2009. Another Florida resident from Miami is young Shaun Torrente who comes in leading the driver’s championship after his opening season win in Port Neches, Texas a month ago in his Speedmaster/Grand Prix Boats sponsored boat. Shaun is hoping to make it two straight as he did a year ago on his way to a “hat-trick” of victories and 2nd in the championship at season’s end.

Canadian Brian Venton enters this race with his best F1-ChampBoat finish in his racing career with a 3rd in Texas and is now looking for more success in his new Jenkinson Telecom sponsored Gran Prix boat. One of the most famous names in power boating anywhere in the world is the Seebold’s from St. Louis and youngest son Tim was leading the opening round event in his Seebold Sports boat until a mechanical problem ended his bid of winning for the 28th time and matching the all-time win mark held by his brother Michael. This Missouri family will consider this race as one of their own while father Bill who has numerous world titles himself will once again serve as Team Manager for the effort since retiring as champion himself back in 1997.

Illinois driver is Chris Fairchild from Paw Paw, who came home 4th at the opening round and is a driver who can win on any weekend and will be looking for success on the Ohio. A year ago he missed most of the season when he broke his lower leg in the opening round in Tennessee but came back in a big way by scoring a fine step on the podium with a third place in Algonac, Michigan.

The local favorite will sure to be Randy Rinker who hails from Syracuse, Indiana and running with his brother on the Amsoil Racing Team effort with Evansville becoming his home race. Randy finished a solid sixth in the opening Texas round. Another mid-western driver Lynn Simburger, will make the short trip to Evansville from Elsah, Illinois had a solid start to the season with a fifth driving for the Playcraft Boats entry.

Tennessee driver Jeff Sheperd is expected to be ready in a new boat finishing sixth in the drivers championship a year ago, while Mark Johnson of New Hampshire is looking to join Brian Venton as a number two on the Don Jenkinson led team beginning in Evansville.

Some of the biggest news however comes from the Johnson powered boat camp with Sea-Way Marine led by Greg Jacobson and Ron Anderson from the Pacific Northwest who are committed to bringing the “white engine” back to prominence in the sport while soon to be introducing a great international driver line-up as well as Texan Mike Schubert who qualified well with a fourth in his hometown event but finishing an unsatisfying eighth at races end. 

Jose Mendana, Jr. another driver from Miami, Florida is battling for the “Rookie of the Year” honors and looking for the same success he had in Formula 2 and transferring it to the F1-ChampBoat series.

So, the “Old National Bank Freedom Festival” is turning a new page with the arrival of the F1-ChampBoat Tour presented by Amsoil knocking on the door of the Ohio River for the first time in the 30 year tradition of the festival. New drivers, new excitement and an international atmosphere as the world’s best pilots drive their boats at speeds of 140 miles an hour while turning at as much as six times their body weight, teetering on the edge for Sunday’s final Grand Prix event. It’s all happening on the Ohio River in downtown Evansville, Indiana on the weekend of the 20th and 21st of June. This will be one race fans will be surely talking about for years to come!

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