MTI Going ‘Factory’ Class 1 Racing In 2025
A new deck for an MTI raceboat went into production this week, but it’s not headed for competition in the popular 450R Factory Stock class, where the Wentzville, Mo., company has four teams running its 390XR catamarans. This time around, the MTI team is thinking bigger as the completed new deck will be married to a 482 catamaran hull for Class 1 competition next season. The 450R Factory Stock GC Racing team duo of owner/driver Willy Cabeza and throttleman Grant Bruggemann will run the 48-footer, which will be dubbed Marine Technology.
MTI created new deck tooling for its new Class 1 catamaran in a decade.
“It’s been over a year in the making,” said Taylor Scism, MTI’s vice president and the daughter of company founder and owner Randy Scism, who has extensive Class 1 experience as a driver and a boat-builder. “Willy and Randy began kicking the idea around last season.
“We learned a lot about safety with our 450R Factory Stock program,” she continued. “We plan to build on that even more with our Class 1 boat and we will work closely with the team at Hendrick Motorsports to ensure the highest level of safety for Willy and Grant. The new 482 Class 1 one boat should be done by the first quarter of 2025.
Willy Cabeza will share the cockpit of MTI’s new 482R Class 1 catamaran next year. Photo courtesy P1 Offshore.
Cabeza and Bruggemann also plan to continue racing in their current class, which will become the 500R Factory Stock class next season thanks to Mercury Racing’s most-powerful outboard offerings. As they do with their current 450R Factory Stock 390XR catamaran, the team will continue to receive full concierge service for the Class 1 campaign.
Cabeza began offshore racing in 2022 and—in addition—to his raceboat—owns a pleasure catamaran and center console from MTI. A veteran of Super Cat and Super Stock racing, Bruggemann joined Cabeza in the cockpit of the GC Racing 450R Factory Stock cat this season.
Cabeza and Bruggemann plan to continue running the GC Racing MTI 390XR cat next season in the 500R Factory Stock class. Photo by Pete Boden copyright Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.
The founder and owner of Grant’s Signature Racing, a notable powerboat rigging and service company in Bradenton, Fla., Bruggemann throttled the XINSURANCE Class 1 raceboat in three events—the Midwest Challenge, the St. Petersburg Grand Prix and the Race World Offshore Key West World Championship—last season.
Rendering courtesy MTI.
“My wife, Kellie, and I are very excited and honored to be part of this project,” Bruggemann said. “MTI is a big family, when you really look at it. In addition to our experience with GC Racing, we have done a couple of MTI customer events now with Willy and his wife, Lizette, and their daughter, Sophia. We’ve seen firsthand how well MTI takes care of all its clients.
MTI will use the 482 hull introduced earlier this year for its first Class 1 raceboat build in 10 years. Photo by Tom Leigh copyright Tommy Gun Images.
“Being part of this is a very big deal,” he added.
Though Bruggemann brings a significant team manager and raceboat set-up-man resume of his own to MTI’s Class 1 campaign, he is delighted to have the company handling those chores through its concierge program.
The Class 1 48-footer will complete during the first quarter of 2025.
“That works out really well,” he explained. “It takes quite an army to get these boats prepared and to the race sites. From what I understand, we are going to keep the group of guys currently handling the GC Racing team and a few more. Plus, we’ll have Randy and his wife, Cherell, with us at every race, and of course Milton Calafel, who is kind of like a ‘pit boss.’
CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT MTI’S LATEST COCKPIT SAFETY DEVELOPMENTS
“I think the last Class 1 boats MTI built were in 2014, but Randy has always stayed on the cutting edge—especially with safety technology,” he continued. “He always advanced the safety aspects with elements like cockpit design, thicker and stronger windshields, and bigger roll bars.”
Bruggemann paused for a moment. “You know, there are other Class 1 boats you can buy, but they are probably 15 to 20 years old,” he added. “It’s time for something new.”
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