When Paul Balfour, the 2016 British F2 National Champion crashed out during the recent UIM F2 European Championships he thought his racing days were effectively over for a seriously long time but this weekend, following a remarkable two week period, he will line up alongside the sixteen drivers that have entered the UIM F2 Grand Prix of Portugal.
“As I got out of the boat and saw the sponson floating away my first thoughts were that what ever was left would only be fit for the scrap heap” said Balfour. “I just couldn’t believe it flipped over, it was going so well. Heading into the wind at Stewartby is always tricky but I have raced there twice a year since 2003, so you would have thought I had the measure of the place by now.”
Once the boat was safely ashore the team noticed that the engine was completely trimmed out and suspect that a switch or relay had failed at a critical point. Surveying the damage the following morning, it occurred to them that all might not be lost. So Balfour spoke to Christian Molgaard, who confirmed that he still had the moulds from when he first built the boat back in 2004 and that he could produce a new deck for them.
Rosewood Trucking, Balfours’ main sponsor, then sent a vehicle directly to Denmark to collect the replacements parts and so began to herculean task of rebuilding the boat in time to get it to Ribadouro.
“The truck arrived back last Friday with the new deck on board” said a relieved Balfour. “All that week we had been rebuilding the lower part of the sponson ready for it to be fitted, plus we have rebuilt the engine and fitted new power-steering supplied by Steve Hoult. Yes, there are a few teething problems still to be sorted, but with the help and advice that we have received from several teams in the pit here in Portugal I’m confident we will be ready to race come Sunday.”
Before that, Balfour, along with all the drivers, will be attending the opening ceremony, which will feature marching bands and hundreds of local school children parading from the pits up to race control where the Portuguese national anthem will be sung. This will be followed by a minutes silence held as a mark of respect to the young powerboat Champion, Massimo Rossi, who tragically lost his life in a racing accident just a week ago in Germany.
Free Practice follows at 11am, with Qualifying (Q1-Q2-Q3) taking place from 14:30.
The Grand Prix, which will be broadcast live on Portuguese TV will commence at 15:45 on Sunday.
