"It's been a great weekend" - speaking from San Benedetto del Tronto, Italy Shelley summed up her first outing on the World Championship P1 powerboat racing circuit.

Driving LUCAS OIL in the Evolution class she and throttleman, Nigel Hook enjoyed a spectacular start to the season. Shelley is the first women to compete at this formula one level of Powerboat racing.

In the Powerpole on Friday LUCAS OIL secured a very respectable fifth place with both driver and throttleman content to get the feel of the boat. A good idea as they had enjoyed less than one hour in the boat together prior to the race!

The Endurance race on Saturday proved a real challenge with Shelley showing some amazing stamina, racing at over 100 miles an hour for over an hour! LUCAS OIL managed to hold on to first place for 10 of the eleven laps, only to be pipped to the line by long-time rival James Sheppard in FOUNTAIN WORLDWIDE.

Today's Sprint race felt more like an Endurance Race with choppy beam seas keeping Shelley fully occupied in the driver's seat. That is until she had to take over the throttle too when Nigel's harness popped and he had to do it up. Not bad - driving AND throttling in your first P1 Sprint!

Nigel and Shelley ended the weekend in second place overall.