Interview Pierre Colpin 2 June 2010
One of the movers and shakers in the UIM Grand Prix of the Sea circuit are Belgian 2B1 Racing Team, racing the #33 Furnibo Fountain in the UIM Grand Prix of the Sea Championship Series. Last year ended on a high for them, winning the last event in Sicily. This year started on a high in Yalta as well with the team coming in at third place after the weekend. The race in Malta is coming up, the team secured a new sponsor and Pierre Colpin returns to race in Malta after having to be absent in Yalta. So time for PowerboatPro to connect with Pierre and have some insight on what is going on with 2B1 racing team.
2B1 secured ING private banking as a sponsor for this season and will of course be looking for ways to continue the partnership into the next years. ING private banking is a branch of ING, a banking and insurance heavy weight and the ING name has also been featured on the formula 1 road racing cars of Renault. So ING is no stranger to the world of motor sports but having them come into powerboat racing is being seen as quite a coup by most. So congratulations are in order but how did they do it?
Pierre Colpin tells us that apart from hard work and making arrangements that are of mutual interest, it sometimes also comes down to meeting the right people at the right place at the right time. For 2B1 it was a bit of both. What also counted heavily for ING to come on board was the steady improvements of the race results from the 2B1 team in the previous season with it all coming together for them in the last race is Sicily where the #33 Furnibo Fountain was able to snatch overall victory for the racing weekend. Results get exposure, exposure gets the brand name out there and having the brand out there should get the sponsor additional customers. The sponsoring game is as simple as that and 2B1 is getting the results. The rest of it fell into place nicely. Another sponsor coming on board, to which Pierre would like to extend his gratefullness, is Victorinox watches. Another chance encouter and some hard work added, leading to a new partnership.
In the first UIM Grand Prix of the Sea race in Yalta with Frank Hemelaer and Benjamin van Riet being the crew, 2B1 Racing Team came in third place overall over the weekend. Pierre hails the excellent work of Benjamin, who had been working very hard all pre-season for the team, to step in as a reserve driver and driving the way he did in Yalta. As all teams out there stress, it is hours in the seat that get you from being a good team to being an excellent team. With Frank and Pierre being the normal crew, Pierre rates Benjamin’s performance stepping in at the last moment and going at it the way he did as excellent. With Pierre and Frank teaming up again in Malta, Pierre sees them getting a good result there.
From talking to the Yalta crew and analyzing the data, the team also came to the conclusion that the boat was driven to maybe 90 percent of its capacity in Yalta. Moreover the team also had some trouble with burned up rubber entering the engines. The engines have been refurbished now and Pierre is convinced everything is now top notch. With also still some extra room to go higher in the revs and remain a safe margin, Pierre assures us that extra push of horsepower will be put to good use in Malta. Pierre expects the team to be able to aim for top spot.
Pierre also wants to mention that he and all other teams really appreciate all the hard work that is being done by Jean-Marie van Lancker and Kathy van den Hende. Jean-Marie as UIM president for pleasure navigation and Kathy stepped in after the promoter on April first announced that they could no longer fulfill their role as promoters for the 2010 racing season. With the first race planned in the first weekend of May, time was short to set something up. But come may 7th the racing was on and it turned out to be a very successful weekend. With the limited amount of time there was to organize things, it sometime is a bit of a roller coaster ride Pierre admits. Only June 1st the race for Malta on June 11 – 13 was confirmed and June 3rd the boat got shipped to Malta. Everything was short notice but Pierre and the whole 2B1 Racing Team take it in their stride and are already looking ahead to the racing next weekend. The outlook on the other events in the UIM Grand Prix of the Sea is about the same. But Pierre is convinced a solution will come albeit sometimes at the last moment and the teams will do their utmost to make this season a successful one.
With these sometimes trying times for racing Pierre looks back at his early days in racing that started about 20 years ago with waterskiing competitions. This is also about the time he met up with Frank for the very first time. The two developed a bond that remains until this day and the way they feel and think together is even reflected in the team name: 2B1 Racing. Pierre also fondly talks about racing the Outerlimits in the early years, doing well in Marseille and getting to the podium in Vigo and now seeing the boat return to the racing as the Carconnex boat. But looking back at it all Pierre comes to the conclusion that times are always trying and the trick is to just keep going.
Getting back to the current days, we asked Pierre how the design of the boat by Jennifer Milani came about. Jennifer had met Benjamin van Riet on Facebook and the two got talking about designing boats. Benjamin, knowing that 2B1 Racing was looking to improve on their design for 2010, got Pierre and Jennifer into contact and the two took it from there. Pierre also states that he believes in giving young people chances to step up to the plate and prove themselves. These sort of situations take Pierre back to when he started his business years ago. At age 23 he founded his own business and was the new kid on the block. Some of the seniors in the industry took a chance and gave him an opportunity. Pierre strongly feels he should return the favor and give the young guns a shot. Jenny jumped at the chance and made a design with which the team is very happy.
A design that can soon be seen again conquering the high seas in Malta. To keep up to date on 2B1 Racing team #33 Furnibo, please check back regularly to PowerboatPro.
For more information on 2B1 Racing team please visit the 2B1 racing website
For more information on the UIM Grand Prix of the Sea World Championship, please visit the UIM GPS website
