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Defending World Champion returns to Key West to compete in the 2009 SBI World Championships
CORONA CALIFORNIA (Wednesday, November 4, 2009) - Swedish driver Michael Silfverberg and veteran Anglo-American Nigel Hook are uniting their two nations to compete in two weeks in the 29th Annual SBI World Championships held in Key West forming the new entry #77 Lucas Oil Scandinavian Offshore Challenge.
Adventurer, businessman, and entrepreneur Michael Silfverberg, a native of Stockholm, brings a fresh energy to the team. He excels from a lifetime on the sea with service as a commercial captain, a navy submariner, and leader of a marine dealership Supreme Marine for yachts and high–performance boats in Sweden.
No other offshore venue draws the number of race boats as Key West. For over 40 years, this race track has been the proving ground for the offshore sports greatest. In myth and reality, Key West, where the Atlantic Ocean collides with the Gulf of Mexico, trumps them all.
The Key West races are produced by Super Boat International with John Carbonell at the helm. The week long event kicks off with a boat parade and registration at the Race Village, Truman Annex, on November 8th-9th. Testing and official practice will be permitted on Tuesday, November 10th, before the first race on Wednesday, November 11th.
Officially the opening race to the 2010 SBI season, Key West is an ideal catalyst to ignite the new international partnership between Lucas Oil and SOC. As Lucas Oil continues its expansion throughout Europe, a focus in Scandinavia will bring access to a market driven by Volvo, Saab, Scania and others.
Michael and Nigel will pilot the Super Vee Skater V399 with Mercury power, the World Championship winner in 2006.
“I’ve test driven on the water with Michael at speeds in excess of what we’ll be running on the Key West track, and I’m keen to play out our race strategy,” said Hook.
“I feel very confident racing with such an experienced pilot as Nigel. I look forward to racing in Key West and I have a really good feeling about this,” said Silfverberg.
The #77 Lucas Oil team comes off a busy International season having competed in Powerboat P1 with TV coverage broadcast to over 400 million homes across 79 countries. The results:
4th Place Overall 2009 P1 World Championship Series
Sprint Race Endurance Race
MALTA, Valletta 2nd 3rd
TURKEY, Istanbul 1st 5th
ITALY, San Benedetto 5th 6th
SWEDEN, Gothenburg 3rd Crashed!
ITALY, Sicily 4th 6th
Lucas Oil is the leading producer of high performance lubricants.
Links:
• Lucas Oil (www.LucasOil.com)
• Scandinavian Offshore Challenge (www.SOCracing.se)
• Mercury Racing (www.MercuryRacing.com)
• Premier Shipping and Packaging (www.psap.co.uk)
