Seebold Captures 5th Title With 3rd In Savannah
Rinker Wins 2nd Straight In Savannah; Fairchild 3rd
SAVANNAH, Georgia – November 4, 2007 – Tim Seebold went into “championship” mode and did enough to reach the podium for the 4th time this season and capture his 5th F1-ChampBoat Grand Prix Series title and his first since 2004 at the 6th and final round of the championship in front of thousands of fans along the Savannah River in downtown Savannah, Georgia.

“We did what we needed too in order to get the job done,” said Tim. “The Bud Light Racing effort put together some long hours this season and I want to especially thank my father Bill for doing such a great job behind the scenes all year long to give us back this coveted trophy.”

While the native of St. Louis was cruising around in 3rd place and finishing 49 of the 50 laps around the 1.0 mile (1.62 kilometer) 4-turn course, the battle up front was having the race fans standing and cheering all race long. Terry Rinker in his Amsoil sponsored Lee craft boat led from the pole and held onto every lap despite being challenged hard in the early stages by young star Shaun Torrente of Miami, Florida who came charging up from 10th to 2nd only to have his race day end quickly when his steering went on the 11th lap.

Chris Fairchild of Paw Paw, Illinois, who was 2nd in the championship and needed points badly, was looking for his 2nd win on the Savannah River after winning upstream at Augusta, Georgia back in May. He pushed Rinker hard for most of the race getting as close as side by side at the halfway mark only to get washed down and losing his pace and falling back to secure 2nd place in the race and 2nd in the championship as well.

Brother Randy Rinker of Syracuse, Indiana came home in his best performance of the season with a strong 4th place finish followed by Texan Michael Schubert running the OMC engine and pushing Seebold hard for 3rd place and the final podium position for most of the race in a great debut of a challenger to Mercury Marine’s strangle hold of the sport.

Lynn Simburger of Elsah, Illinois came home a fine 6th to finish 5th in the championship, while Jeff Shepherd of Tennessee gave the South a good 7th place finish on another steady run from the likeable driver from Woodlawn.

Canadian Brian Venton led the two boat contingent from Ontario as he came home 8th while his fellow compatriot Mark Major from Toronto was pushing hard for a top 5 finish early before exciting the race only 5 laps in being the first driver out of the event.

Ned Mihajlovic of the SPN Racing Team came home a fine 9th place in only his 2nd event of the season while rookie Chuck Unkle of Thomasville, Georgia was 10th.

Tim Seebold wins the title with 3207 points or 78 more than 2nd place Chris Fairchild and 79 more than Terry Rinker who finished 3rd. Shaun Torrente was 4th back 254 points while Lynn Simburger finished 5th with 503 points less than his neighbor Seebold.

The win for Rinker was his 17th career victory moving him into 3rd all-time in the F1-ChampBoat Grand Prix Series totals ahead of legionary Bill Seebold’s 16.

Kris Shepard won the Champ2 title with a 6th place finish while Glynn Mathews took the win and finished 232 points behind Shepard’s winning total of 3528 at seasons end. Mark Profitt in only his 2nd race was a strong 2nd place finisher just ahead of Jimmie Merleau of Fennville, Michigan with both drivers running the new Mercury Optimax power plant engine of the future.

All in all a great 2007 F1-ChampBoat season with 3 drivers in each class going to last race of the season determining a champion. Seebold and Shepard are the winners but you believe a new host of drivers are already planning to take their championship trophies away for the 2008 season.

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Rinker Grabs Pole For Grand Prix Of Savannah
Seebold Gains More Points Starting 2nd; Fairchild 3rd
SAVANNAH, Georgia – November 3, 2007, 2007 – Last years defending race winner and two time F1-ChampBoat Champion Terry Rinker of the Amsoil sponsored team came away with a heat win and grabbed pole position for tomorrow’s 2nd Annual Grand Prix of Savannah, the 6th and final round of the 2007 F1-ChampBoat Grand Prix Series on the Savannah River in downtown historic Savannah, Georgia.

The field of F1-ChampBoats were split in half in group A and group B and the Bud Light Seebold Racing Team boat took the fast time in qualifying with a 31.34 second lap around the 4-turn 1.0 mile (1.62 kilometer) course with a speed of 113.5 mph to lead group A. The 43 year-old driver from Osage Beach, Missouri Tim Seebold, got a great start off the dock ahead of his nearest rival in the championship Chris Fairchild of Paw Paw, Illinois and never looked back winning by over 5 seconds.

“Starting 2nd tomorrow is alright by us because we gained points on the two drivers that are chasing me the hardest Chris (Fairchild) and Terry (Rinker),” said Tim. “Now tomorrow I would love to win the race and take my first victory in Savannah, but I also know that I don’t have to win to capture the title as well. We’ll see when the sun sets on Sunday evening where we stand.”

Terry Rinker, who is starting first with his first pole position of the season, must beat Seebold in hopes of having any chance of capturing his third title in a row. He was just a second quicker than Seebold by winning his 2nd heat race and being awarded the overall pole for tomorrow’s 50 lap event.

“We feel great about taking pole and now have our sights set on winning the race for the 2nd straight year and capturing the championship for the 3rd year in a row,” said the Tampa, Florida driver. “We’ll do what we have to do and let the cards play out at the end of the day.”

Rinker is 3rd in the championship 119 points back of Seebold with 400 points up for grabs for victory in Sunday’s event. Second in the title chase is Fairchild who starts third and is now 98 points back losing 10 points to Tim Seebold despite running well in his heat.

“We are going to spend some time with David DeWald tonight and figure the right propeller selection for tomorrow’s race,” said Fairchild. “I’d love to win tomorrow for the 2nd time this season on the Savannah River and come away with my first title at the same time. Time will tell.”

A new engine that has done a lot of testing and a lot of development in the last year and one-half has come from the Jacobson-Anderson workshops of Seattle, Washington with the reemergence of the OMC V-6 engine that was run by Texas driver Michael Schubert. The engine/boat combination looked strong in qualifying going 5th quick in its first appearance and eventually Schubert finishing 15 seconds behind Rinker in heat number 2. The question will be answered tomorrow whether this “white engine” seen on the tour for the first time in over a decade has enough staying power to get to the end of a 50 lap endurance event.

Drivers struggling on the race course were Shaun Torrente of Miami, Florida in the California Gold Racing Team machine looking strong in the opening laps of his heat race only to have engine problems and slowing to just finish. He’ll start towards the back of the field looking for his first race win of the season despite great performances all season long.

Drivers Lynn Simburger, Randy Rinker, Jeff Shepherd, Brian Venton, Mark Major, Chuck Unkle and Ned Mihaljovic all got to the end of the day hoping to have a shot at winning in tomorrow’s 2nd Annual Grand Prix of Savannah starting at 3 pm (15:00 EST), 20:00 GMT and 03:00 Central China Time for the 6th and final round of an exciting 2007 F1-ChampBoat Grand Prix Series season.

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QUALIFYING RESULTS

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Savannah To Host F1-ChampBoat Championship Finale
10/19/07 --SAVANNAH, GA -- The F1-ChampBoat Series is coming to historic Savannah on Nov. 3-4, for the season championship finale of the 2007 ChampBoat Grand Prix Series. This will be the 2nd appearance for the F1-ChampBoat Series in Savannah which hopes to make Savannah the long term season finale stop on the tour.

Today, representatives from the F1-ChampBoat Series, along with former F1 driving champion, Ben Robertson of Charleston, SC and local Champ2 driver, Michael Floyd of Rincon, GA, gave the media a delightful exhibition and 20seater F1 rides with Robertson at the helm. “Were very excited to host the F1 ChampBoat Series finale here in Savannah for the second straight year making this our premier fall event”, stated Joe Marinelli, Chairman of the Savannah Convention and Visitors Bureau. “This event is world class and so anyone who loves sport shouldn’t miss it as its fantastic racing! States, Mark Spadoni, General Manager of the Westin Savannah Harbor Resort.

The ChampBoat Series is excited about the event being here in Savannah, it’s a great venue which proved last year to be one of the toughest race course we run on. The course is very much like our flagship event in Bay City which always provides fantastic racing action! The championship points battle is tight coming into this finale as anyone of the top three drivers can win it, so it should be exciting to watch”. Stated ChampBoat Series Director, Mike Schriefer.

Four-time series champion, Tim Seebold of Osage Beach, MO brings his famed Bud Light racing team to Savannah with a slim points lead over Chris Fairchild of Paw Paw, IL seeking his first ever series championship. “We come to every race to win, so the points will fall where they may, we just hope were on top” states Fairchild. Also in the hunt for the championship is last year’s Savannah winner from Florida, Terry Rinker of the Amsoil Racing Team who still believes he’s got a shot at the title. “Tim has been more consistent then we have this year, but we are coming to Savannah to win, and with any luck, we can still win it all”, stated Rinker. “The Bud Light team has done a great job this year and we’ll be ready to fight in Savannah as well” says a focused Tim Seebold.

The F1-ChampBoat Grand Prix Series features F1 boats that reach speeds of 135 miles an hour around multiple pin race circuits and pulling eye-popping, 6G corners in the fastest-turning race vehicles in the world. Drivers from North America as well as Europe are hoping for the perfect weather conditions offered by Mother Nature for this time of year in Georgia.

Another Floridian, second- year driver Shaun Torrente of the California Gold Racing Team, is pushing for his first title after finishing “Rookie of the Year” in 2006. He has one career victory so far in his Grand Prix- designed boat, built in Los Angeles.

Chris Fairchild from outside of Chicago, Ill., is a race winner already this season by taking the opening round in Augusta, Ga., back in May on the Savannah River. He is hoping his Gary Pugh-designed boat from Tennessee can keep him in the title hunt.

Sophomore driver Jeff Shepherd of Nashville is coming to Savannah after putting on a dazzling show by winning heat two in Kentucky.

Two Canadian teams that will be heading to Savannah for the ChampBoat Series are Mark Major and Brian Venton, both from Ontario, Canada.

All in all, more than 35 race teams will come from all over North America and four international drivers will be in Savannah ready to race for the F1-ChampBoat Grand Prix of Savannah title. Also making its first ever appearance in Savannah is the Champ2 Championship as the premier supporting event.

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EVENT SCHEDULE
Tentative Event Schedule: subject to change

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HOTEL

Westin Savannah Harbor Golf Resort & Spa
1 Resort Drive – Savannah, GA 31421
912-201-2000or 800.228.3000
ChampBoat Team Rate: $139. (Must be on ChampBoat Series List)
ChampBoat VIP/Member/Sponsor Rate: $159.
Contact: Brandi Wilson
http://www.starwoodhotels.com/westin/search/pre_decider_all.html?propertyID=1169&ES=WISAV_Reservations_1169_ATL 

Optional Hotels/Accommodations:

http://www.savannah-visit.com 

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RACE SITE:

Savannah Trade and Convention Center
1 International Dr
Savannah, GA 31421
(912) 447-4000

http://www.savtcc.com 

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Race Team Entries:

Contact ChampBoat Series for membership and entry forms.
Membership download: http://www.champboat.com/membership.htm 
Event Entry Form: http://www.champboat.com/entryforms.htm 

Credentials/Passes: ChampBoat credentials and passes will be issued at ChampBoat registration at race site. They must be worn at all times.

Paddock Parking: Passes will be issued to ChampBoat members on site. (1 hauler, 2 cars per team. Do not park race trailers anywhere, ChampBoat official will direct you to your team spot.

WATER TAXI:
The City of Savannah has a free water taxi service running each half hour to/from the Westin/Trade center to Historic Downtown Savannah. This service closes at midnight, so if you turn into a pumpkin downtown, there’s always a $10. taxi ride back across!

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Contact us for more info