GPA ban champ driver
BANNED from competing in Guernsey this weekend, champion powerboater Marc Lamont had tried to get the Condor Ferries Guernsey Powerboat Grand Prix cancelled and is threatening next year's world championships here.
BANNED from competing in Guernsey this weekend, champion powerboater Marc Lamont had tried to get the Condor Ferries Guernsey Powerboat Grand Prix cancelled and is threatening next year's world championships here. At last year's corresponding event, Lamont won the powerful monohulled V24 class in his seahorse.org machine.
But, said the 40-year-old from Kent, the victory came about despite his boat being sabotaged by one or two rivals before the race.
His forceful complaints have led to the ban.
In February, Lamont posted the following comment on a discussion forum on www.boatmad.com about the Guernsey event:
'The BIG question is who will look after our boats whilst we are there?' he said.
'Or will it be open season on the boats again, with stuff dumped in the fuel and plug leads loosened and such? Lovely location, great race, but one (probably two) really s****y competitors.
'This is actually a serious question, and I see it was ignored in the previous posting.... What are you - the organisers of the event - doing to ensure the safety of the boats, and I am not talking about in the water during the race, I am talking about in the middle of the night.'
Lamont said that because his boat has been tampered with in the past he sealed the petrol cap and engine bay. He claims that early on the Sunday morning of the 2006 event, someone poured aluminum powder into his fuel tank.
Although marshals tested the petrol and did not find anything wrong, Lamont states that when the boat was still, the aluminum was resting at the bottom of the tank. However when the boat was in motion on the water, the aluminum mixed in with the petrol to the extent that it clogged up the fuel filter which forced the machine to break down 10 yards after the finishing line.
Lamont claims the organisers told him to apologise for his comments or they would stop him from entering the 2007 competition. He refused, claiming that he had nothing to say sorry for.
Lamont added if he was not allowed to race in Guernsey, it would wreck his chances of winning the championship.
'Being refused entry to the Guernsey event leaves me 800 points behind my competition,' he said.
'And even if I win every single event post Guernsey, I will still finish last, as it is not possible with the current points system to make up 800 points. Thus I have no option but to get the Guernsey event removed from the calendar.'
Guernsey is hoping to hold the world championships next year and Lamont says he will try and get that also cancelled.
In response, co-organiser Kevin Walsh said that the Guernsey Powerboat Association are meeting to discuss the issue over the weekend and that they will be preparing a statement.
