ABU DHABI - April 20, 2012 - UIM F1 H2O racing star Marit Stromoy of Norway, in cooperation with the Norwegian Powerboat Federation, has launched her own "Junior Team" in the GT-15 class in a start-up project that she hopes will expand in helping the youth of her nation get involved in the sport and promote powerboat racing at the same time throughout the whole of Scandinavia.
Joakim Halvorsen from Langesund was the lucky choice to drive for the team that features a new Winrace boat that will arrive shortly while the young Joakim has already taken to the water testing in the last few weeks testing his own T-250 hull.
"The Norwegian Powerboat Federation has done a great job in promoting the new junior class of GT-15," stated the five-year F1 driving veteran. "Now we have about 15 juniors ready for the season to start the first race in the month of June and Winrace is now producing boats at a record rate to get everyone outfitted for the first event.
We've decided to support one new driver and start a Stromoy Racing Junior Team as I want to give back to the sport that I love so much and have enjoyed for 22 years. This is the least I can do.
Our driver Joakim is 15 years old and brings great enthusiasm to the project having tested in 0 degrees weather in the nearby fjords in a Winrace boat. I can already see that he should be the perfect person for this project. He's also light as a feather and 2 cm taller than me.
The boat will be decorated in the same colors as our F1 boat and we will support Joakim throughout the season.
The GT-15 class is very similar to what I started in back in 1990 (T-250) so I have some experience with this type of racing. We, my father and I together, earned a world record in that class, something that I am still very proud of even today.
Joakim, by the way, is so excited and happy for this opportunity I think he's probably sleeping in his new Puma race suit with maybe his helmet on as well."
The 35 year-old native of Oslo has already made her mark in the sport. A year ago, Marit put herself at the head of the field and took pole position at the Grand Prix of Portugal last May in Portimao with her Team Nautica boat. She has 39 career starts and two top-five finishes during her five years of racing F1. When she's not racing she is a professional entertainer who performs throughout Scandinavia while continuing her F1 career.
Marit will be making her 40th career start at the next round of the UIM F1 H2O World Championship for powerboating at the Grand Prix of Russia in lovely Kazan on the 23rd and 24th of June.
All the news including the live worldwide television broadcast of both Qualifying for pole position on the 23rd of June and the Grand Prix on the 24th can be followed by going to the official website of the UIM F1 H2O World Championship at www.f1h2o.com.
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