"We consider ourselves as genuine Championship contenders," is the bold claim by team principle Chris Witty with the news that Fountain Powerboats, one of America's leading high-performance boat manufacturers and Ilmor, one of motor sport's most prolific and successful engineering firms, have announced their involvement to contest the 2007 UIM Powerboat P1 World Championship. The new team will be run under the control of Fountain Worldwide, the international sales arm of the North Carolina-based company, whose President is Florida-based Englishman, Craig D. Wilson. The race team will be based at Fountain's new British dealership in Bournemouth, Hampshire, and will be competing in the Evolution class.
Chris Witty (Team Manager) British
Craig Wilson (Throttleman) British
Craig Wilson moved to Switzerland at the age of 9 where he excelled at basketball and soccer, playing for the Swiss under 16's as striker. At 16, he became the youngest ever player to get into the Swiss division 1 basketball team. When his fathers job changed, he moved to U.S.A at 18 and has lived in Florida ever since. Wilson started Powerboat Racing in 2001 at the SBI World Championships in New Orleans with his father and elder sister, where he finished 3rd in Yanmar Powered Fountain 42' in Production 4 Class. In 2002 Wilson ran a new boat, again with Yanmar engines, with Bill Mazzoni and won his 1st race in Sarasota. He raced with Mazzoni in 2003 in P4 then upgraded to Supervee in 2005. Wilson is the President of Fountain Worldwide; the exclusive worldwide distributor for Fountain Powerboats with a dealership covering 16 countries outside of the U.S.A.
James Sheppard (Driver) British
James Sheppard started racing Powerboats at the age of 12. In his early teens he built and raced 197cc 2 Stroke Villiers Powered go-karts, following this he looked at Motorsports but chose boats instead. Sheppard drove an 8.9 HP Yamaha-Powered Dart on club and national circuits for 2 years. He then returned to race in 2001 and won 130HP Honda title in his 1st year and in 2002. He stepped up into Honda 225 class and won the title in 2003 and 2004. In 2005 Sheppard raced Provee Euro cup and Supervee in Key West. Aside from Powerboat racing, Sheppard is the Managing Director of Millers Foods, a frozen food importers based in Surrey and is also a commercial property developer. His latest Powerboating achievement is winning Supervee World Championship in Key West last November.
