Gill racing for Kingfisher Ultra Sharks with George Ivey of United States of America as navigator finished with the timing of 02:30:60 seconds
India finally made it's much awaited debut in the P1 Powerboat racing. The time trail went off to a terrific start to determine the rankings for Saturday's event. All the teams came pretty close to achieve the pole position.
Sam Coleman, Pilot and Daisy Coleman, navigator racing for Baleno RS Booster Jets from United Kingdom took the pole position for Saturday's race 1. The brother-sister duo looked in complete control from the beginning and completed the first lap in 2:26 seconds and took 2:25 seconds to complete the second lap. The duo took the pole position with the timing of 02:25:73 seconds.
The second place was closely contested and it went went to Money on Mobile Marlins team of James Norvill (UK), Pilot and Christian Parsons-Young (UK), navigator with the timimg of 02:25:74 seconds, a difference of 1/100th second.
The man of the moment was definitely India's Gaurav Gill — India's top race car driver. He was making his debut in P1 Powerboat racing and did not disappoint his fans and finished a commendable seventh.
Gill racing for Kingfisher Ultra Sharks with George Ivey of United States of America as navigator finished with the timing of 02:30:60 seconds.
Gill was chuffed with his performance and said, "It's amazing to be part of this massive event. It's a unique opportunity and I did not want to leave it. India doesn't have a marine culture and the promoters have done a fantastic job and I was more than happy to be a part of the event."
Gill, who is not a professional powerboat driver, said, "I went to United Kingdom and trained under seven time world champion Neil Holmes and Sam Coleman also helped me. I am starting to understand the dynamic of the boat and finishing mid-pack among the world champions is a brilliant start."
Gill also said that, "I didn't feel any pressure before the race and people who follow race car driving were cheering for me. The sport (powerboat racing) is new to me and you can't learn the sport overnight. I think powerboat racing will be an annual event in India and I would love to be a part of it and represent the country."
When asked about the race on Saturday, Gill said, "Looking forward to it and it's going to be huge tomorrow. The track was quite smooth today but tomorrow the track will be rough and you will see boat's flying four feet in the air."
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