Interview Aaron Ciantar 17 May 2010
In the movie clips that are being posted on the internet we from PowerboatPro had seen the new Chaudron Ukrainian Spirit Evolution boat flying. Yet in the official standings Seagull Chaudron was awarded no points. Chaudron powerboats competes in the UIM Grand Prix of the Sea World Championship in both the Evolution Class and SuperSport Class. Time to find out what the team had to say about the race in Yalta Ukraine from May 7 to May 9. So we hooked up with World Champion Aaron Ciantar from the Maltese team and asked about his experience.
Aaron tells us that he is very happy with the speed and handling of the new Chaudron Ukrainian Spirit Evolution boat. He already had a good feeling after the tests done in Malta but putting it in the water in racing conditions often is a different story. Everything went well in the practice runs but by the time it was Friday and Powerpole came along one of the engines broke down and the Seagull Chaudron Ukrainian Spirit Evolution team was out of the race to set a good time. In Saturday´s Sprint race the team had to start from the back of the field.
Overnight the Chaudron crew worked hard to get the boat fixed for Saturday´s Sprint race. A new engine was installed and the team was ready to go. Again the boat took off flying and even took the lead for 5 laps. With the finish in sight another engine broke down and the team had to throttle back and finish the race on one engine. This meant that they were passed by the other teams and a good result was out of the question for Saturday´s Sprint race.
More hard work to do for the crew but they hung in there and Sunday the Chaudron Ukrainian Spirit team was at the start and ready to go at it hard again. Starting from 7th place Chaudron was building a quick rhythm and three laps down the road they were in 3rd place and looked sure for a podium finish. Again faith decided otherwise and the third engine within a weekend let the team down. Conclusion after the weekend is that a fine handling Evolution boat has been built during winter but due to technical mishaps the Chaudron Ukrainian Spirit Evolution team have nothing to show for that after a whole first weekend of racing in the UIM Grand Prix of the Sea World Championships.
Viktor Shemchuk, throttle man, owner of the Chaudron Evolution boat and Aaron´s team mate in the boat, decided three was not a charm and decided to switch engine manufacturer for the next race in Valetta, Malta 11 to 13 June 2010. This means in Malta we will see a Mercury powered Chaudron Ukrainian Spirit Evolution boat with a determined crew that is set on winning the home race for the Chaudron team.
Apart from being impressed by the new Evolution boat´s speed and handling, Aaron has some good words to spare for his team mate Viktor Shemchuk. Aaron had told PowerboatPro before that Viktor had the blood of a racer and in Yalta, Ukraine during the first race of the UIM Grand Prix of the Sea Viktor made true on his perceived talent. Aaron says to us that Viktor throttled the boat very well and running first for a while in the Sprint race on Saturday and getting from 7th to 3rd spot in Sunday´s Endurance race was also due to Viktor´s good work on the throttles.
Aaron is also impressed by the result the Seagull Chaudron SuperSport team in Yalta. This was a three men crew relatively new to racing and they did very well. Overall over the racing weekend they came in 6th which is a very good result for such a relatively new crew. And Aaron also has seen where they can improve. It is his analysis that a lot can be gained from tighter cornering. Aaron makes it clear this is not criticism but feedback to make the team grow faster. He knows the Seagull Chaudron SuperSport crew are fast learners and he expects them to be a force to be reckoned with within SuperSport as the season goes on. Aaron looks forward to seeing them race in Malta within a month´s time.
Unfortunately the SuperSport team also had a little mishap. Pictures are out with the backside of the boat very deep in the water. Aaron says it was a small problem with the drives. When the team was at speed everything was alright but when they throttled down the back wave of water came into the boat from the rear entering through the drives, filling the backside of the boat with water. After getting the boat on shore and getting the water out , the problem was fixed easily and crew and boat were ready to race another day.
Aaron is feels the new Evolution boat has not been done justice by all the technical mishaps to it over the weekend in Yalta. He is therefore looking forward to have his revenge during the next race which will be his home race in Valetta, Malta from 11 to 13 of June. We from PowerboatPro will keep you up to date with how that is going….
Pictures courtesy of Chaudron Racing Team and poweboatracing.be, copyright Luc Vermeiren and Peter Moorkens.
For more information on Chaudron powerboats and Chaudron Racing Team please visit the Chaudron powerboats website.
More information on Aaron is to be found on Aaron´s personal website.
