Naples Grand Prix Day One

SEEBOLD CAPTURES POLE FOR SUNDAY’S GRAND PRIX OF NAPLES!
TORRENTE 2nd AND RINKER 3rd IN CHAMPIONSHIP BATTLE!

Seeboldhead.jpgNaples, Florida – November 1, 2008 – Five time series champion Tim Seebold drove his Bud Light Seebold Racing boat to the fastest heat race time of the day to capture pole position and will lead the field of 16 drivers from three different nations for tomorrow’s Grand Prix of Naples the 6th and final round of the 2008 F1-ChampBoat Series.

The 42 year-old driver from Osage Beach, Missouri traded wins with series points leader Terry Rinker of the Amsoil/Rinker Racing team and set the fastest heat winning time of a 7:21:06 around the 0.78 mile (1.2 kilometer) five-pin course on Lake Avalon to capture his first pole position of the season. “We needed this today in order for us to have any chance in winning the title this season,” said Tim.

“We had engine problems early and we dug ourselves out of a hole and now we are filled with confidence to win tomorrow. We however will need some luck to take the title however, but I’ve seen stranger things happen so we still have hope.”

rinker3.jpgRinker, who has a 63 point lead going into the final day won a heat and captured the fastest time in qualifying with an electrifying 28.62 second lap. He now needs to just stay close and finish on the podium and he will lock up the title for the fourth time in his career.

The driver who is so close he can almost taste the title is Shaun Torrente of the Gran Prix Boats/Gary L Barton Corp/Speedmaster Marine driver who is 53 points back and will need to both win and hope for bad luck for Terry Rinker for him to take his first title before the sun sets over Sugden Regional Park. “We are confident of our own effort tomorrow to make a statement but it’s not totally up to us at this point,” said Shaun. “We can only do what we can do but our three wins this season has been something special and we can grow on that for the future.”

simburger-boat.jpgLynn Simburger in his Playcraft Boats sponsored Seebold boat will start fourth, while Chris Fairchild another Illinois driver from Paw Paw will be in the 5th position in his Pugh designed boat. Sixth is Jeff Shepherd in his Hampton Inn Naples Central/Diamond Marine Pugh boat, while Mike Schubert of Richmond, Texas will start 7th in his Sea-Way Marine OMC powered boat while his teammate Ahmed Al Hameli making his first race appearance in North America qualified a credible seventh but failed to finish more than six laps in the pair of 15 lap back to back heat races and will start 15th in tomorrow’s 60 lap event for the driver from the United Arab Emirates who is currently 4th in the U.I.M. F1 World Championship tour for Team Abu Dhabi.

Randy Rinker of the Amsoil/Rinker Team will start 8th; Billy Joule of St.Petersburg, Florida was 9th and Rob Dinicolentonio of Lakeland, Fl  rounds out the top ten.

The sixth and final round of the 2008 F1-ChampBoat Series will take place tomorrow afternoon at 4:00 pm Eastern Standard Time, 21:00 GMT on Lake Avalon in Naples, Florida. Three drivers are still in the championship hunt, with Terry Rinker looking for his Fourth title, while Tim Seebold is seeking his sixth and Shaun Torrente his first.