450R Factory Stock Class Coming To Key West With Five Teams
<!–
Racing: 450R Factory Stock Class Coming To Key West With Five Teams
–>
The largest fleet in the relatively short, two-year history of the 450R Factory Stock catamaran class, which was spearheaded by MTI principal Randy Scism, is gearing up for the Race World Offshore-produced American Power Boat Association/Union Internationale Motonautique Offshore World Championships November 6-13 in Key West, Fla. A record-high five teams currently are registered for the spec Mercury Racing 450R outboard-engine-powered catamaran class.
After running uncontested last year in Key West, Taylor Scism and John Tomlinson will square off against four other 450R Factory Stock teams this year. Photo by Pete Boden copyright Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.
Of those teams, three are running 39-foot MTI catamarans and two are going to be running 39-footers from Doug Wright. On the MTI side of the fleet, driver Will Cabeza will share the cockpit with Gary Ballough in GC Racing, driver Randy Keys and throttleman Bill Allen are teaming up in KLOVAR Motorsports and driver Taylor Scism (the younger daughter of the MTI founder) and throttleman John Tomlinson will run together in TS Motorsports.
From the Doug Wright factory in Melbourne, Fla., driver Logan Adan and throttleman Mike Demeno will share the cockpit of the Doug Wright Powerboats team catamaran. Logan Adan is the son of J.R. Adan, a member of the company owners’ group that includes Romy Robau and J Carro. Demeno, who is relocating to Florida next year to become the company’s lead rigger, is the owner of New York-based Speed Master Marine Performance.
Driver Francois Pirelli and throttleman Michael Karsenti will team up in the other 39-foot Doug Wright cat dubbed Gladiator-Canados.
“We are really excited—it’s nice to be able to compete,” Robau said. “We have a good group of guys here and they worked nights and weekends to make it happen. It should be really cool to have two Doug Wrights and three MTIs out there.”
As previously reported on speedonthewater.com, the 450R Factory Stock class officially made it into the APBA rulebook this season. Under APBA rules, a minimum of three boats per class are required to score points in any given race. With five teams registered for Key West, that means the first official APBA/UIM 450R Factory Stock-class world champions will be crowned next month.
Informed of current 450R Factory Stock-class registration number for the Key West races, Scism, who will be testing and practicing with Tomlinson in Florida next week, was delighted.
“Heck yeah,” she said. “I love to hear that.”
Related stories
2022 Key West Poker Run And Offshore World Championships Coverage
Kittredge Returning To Super Stock Ranks With Famous Doug Wright Cat
Racer Interviews To Rock Live Sports Radio Broadcast In Key West
Scisms Set New Dam Challenge Record
New Waves And Wheels-Edition Doug Wright Catamarans Available Soon
Sneak Peek: Doug Wright 450R Factory Stock Raceboat Ready For Shootout Showcase
New Majority Investors At Doug Wright Designs
.
