On Tap Today In Michigan City: Super Stock And Bracket Action, Class 1 Qualifying
Some 56 offshore racing teams have descended on Michigan City, Ind., this weekend for the 14th annual Great Lakes Grand Prix presented by XINSURANCE, which is fourth race of the 2023 Offshore Powerboat Association season and the third race of the Union Internationale Motonautique Class 1 World Championship Series. Today’s action kicks off at 10 a.m. with competition in the Bracket 400, 600 and 700 ranks.
Jackhammer is one of 10 Super Stock-class teams that will compete today in the 14th annual Great Lakes Grand Prix. Photos by Pete Boden copyright Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.
Fans can catch the action live on the Offshore Powerboat Association YouTube channel.
With a new dogleg feature added this year, the five-mile Lake Michigan course will reopen for testing following today’s Bracket-class competition and close at 2 p.m. for the Class 1 qualifying round. There are seven Class 1 team are in town for this weekend’s action.
The 10 team, 11-lap Super Stock contest will follow at 2:30 p.m. “It’s not supposed to be crazy rough,” said Myrick, who shares the cockpit of the Super Stock-class Performance Boat Center team raceboat with Rusty Williams. “Just a little bump.”
The 2023 Great Lakes Grand Prix course includes a dogleg.
Steve Curtis, the throttleman for the Class 1 Huski Ice Spritz team currently tied in points with 222 Offshore Australia in the Class 1 series, offered a similar assessment of today’s conditions, which of course could change as Lake Michigan is a notoriously fickle body of water.
“At the moment, it looks fairly calm—certainly not like the race last year,” he said. “We are trying a new set-up so hopefully all the hard work the team has done over the last couple of weeks will pay off.”
XINURANCE is the event’s title sponsor, as well as the primary backer of a Class 1 team.
As it currently appears on the Offshore Powerboat Association website, tomorrow’s competiton will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. starting with the Bracket 200, 300 and 500 classes, followed by Class 1 and Unlimited class, Super Cat (with nine teams), 450R Factory Stock and Extreme V.
Speedonthewater.com will report specific start times for tomorrow’s races as they become available.
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