Maritimo racing against time to keep season alive

Maritimo Offshore is now facing a race against time to keep their 2003 championship season alive.

In the wake of the crash that destroyed their raceboat at the Austrian Grand Prix, team owner Bill Barry-Cotter has struck a deal with Khalfan Harib, Managing Director of the Dubai-based Victory Team, to purchase the boat used by Saeed Al Tayer and Mohammed Al Marri last season.

"Khalfan Harib has made a most generous and sportsmanlike offer for us to buy the team's spare boat which ran as Victory1 last year," said Barry-Cotter.

"We are now in a race against time to see if we can rig her in time for Qatar."

Maritimo's driver, Peter McGrath and team manager, Ann-Marie Cook are now in Pisa, Italy where work to re-rig the ex-Victory boat has already started.

"It's a big job and time is tight. But we have some other members of the team on the way over and I am sure we will be ready in time to ship her with the other boats," said McGrath.

"We will strip the old boat and then set about trying to replicate the set-ups that Bill and I have been used to this season."

The task facing Maritimo will include installing their own wiring loom, dashboard systems, steering, drives and engines and the deadline they face is October 3 when the Class 1 fleet is scheduled to be shipped to the Middle East region.

Round 6 of the Superfund Class 1 World Powerboat Championship is in Doha, Qatar on October 25.