Scism And Tomlinson Ready To Defend 450R Factory Stock Title
Taking nothing for granted, defending 450R Factory Stock-class world and national champions Taylor Scism and John Tomlinson of the TS Motorsports team recently capped two months of testing and practice in advance of the season-opening 7 Mile Grand Prix, April 28-30, in Marathon, Fla. Most recently—as in the last week—Scism and Tomlinson completed a 25-lap session at Lake X in St. Cloud, Fla., in their new MTI 390XR raceboat.
The new TS Motorsports MTI 390XR is the team’s third raceboat in as many seasons. Photos by Cole McGowan copyright MTI.
The team has put 20 hours on the new raceboat, which Scism described as “identical” to her prior two 39-footers powered by Mercury Racing 450R outboard engines, spec power for the growing class.
Last week’s test-session was dedicated to setup based on performance-data the team acquired running its first two MTI raceboats. The 390XR hull is built in the same mold as the 390X pleasure catamaran.
“We are really encouraged by the out-of-the-box performance we’re seeing from our newest MTI boat,” Scism said in a press release from the team. “This has been a deliberate and thorough testing program because we know what the benchmark is for this boat’s capabilities now that we’re on our third one. We also know what the benchmark is as it relates to our competition as we had four challengers at the end of last season.”
Said Scism, “Our seat time and experience together is a pillar of our competitive advantage.”
And the team isn’t done prepping for the American Power Boat Association Offshore National Championship Series in which the Race World Offshore-produced Marathon contest is one of five Florida races that include Thunder On Cocoa Beach, the Sarasota Powerboat Grand Prix, the St. Petersburg Grand Prix and the Clearwater “Nationals.”
“We’re aiming to get even more testing done ahead of the first race in Marathon, but we know we will utilize the Saturday of race weekend to extract any additional learnings we can,” added Scism. “Our seat time and experience together is a pillar of our competitive advantage.”
Between teams running MTI and Doug Wright Powerboats catamarans, the 450R Factory Stock class could see as many as eight teams on the racecourse this season.
Sitting pretty ahead of the 2023 season, TS Motorsports is ready to defends its world and national titles.
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