China CTIC Team will field Stefan Hagin alongside Brent Dillard at the Grand Prix of Kyrgyzstan, the team announced, replacing Peter Morin in the second race of the 2026 UIM F1H2O World Championship season.
The decision comes despite Morin’s recent form. The Frenchman was running second in Cagliari on May 31, eight seconds behind eventual winner Stefan Arand and with Grant Trask closing on him, when he barrel rolled at the right-hander and went out of the race. It was only the second accident of his 44-race F1H2O career. He still leaves the seat for Kyrgyzstan, ending, at least for one round, an association with China CTIC that stretches back to 2017.
Brent Dillard’s father, Steve Dillard of Dillard Financial Solutions, said he had no insight into the decision.
I am not sure what is going on with Peter. You will have to ask Phillip about that. My own role is limited to boat #8, and Brent will remain its primary driver as long as he is fit. Phillip is the principal and he’s the one in charge of the team.
Morin had already built a formidable record before his 2017 debut, six consecutive Class 3 World Endurance Championships from 2011 to 2016 and five straight Rouen 24-hour victories. He was named F1H2O Rookie of the Year in 2017 after finishing twelfth in the championship.
Nine Seasons, Seven Podiums
Across nine seasons with China CTIC, Morin has taken seven podium finishes from 38 Grand Prix starts. His career-best result came in 2023, when he finished third in the Drivers’ World Championship, a result he followed with fourth place in 2024.
The 2025 season tested the partnership in a different way. Dillard was sidelined for most of the year through injury, and three different drivers rotated through the second seat. Morin was the constant. He started every round, finished seventh in the championship, and took two sprint race podiums along the way.
That consistency earned the team’s faith for 2026. China CTIC confirmed the restored Morin and Dillard line-up in March, citing the third-place Teams’ Championship finishes the pairing delivered in both 2023 and 2024.
Cagliari left both drivers with points on the board despite neither finishing the main race. Morin took 9 from a Sprint 1 result, Dillard 6, leaving Morin tenth in the championship standings and Dillard thirteenth heading into Kyrgyzstan. Dillard also failed to finish the main race, barrel rolling late on.
Hagin’s Return
Hagin is not new to the China CTIC garage. He made his F1H2O debut for the team last season at the Grand Prix of Jeddah, called up as a third driver after the squad had already cycled through Grant Trask and Kyle Maskall in the second seat. He finished third in the Sprint Race on his first appearance in an F1 boat, then failed to finish the following day’s main race.
Asked for his reaction to the call-up, Hagin was generous about the man he replaces.
I’m incredibly excited and grateful for the opportunity to replace Peter Morin in CTIC China team for the next race. He’s a very competitive driver, so I know I have big shoes to fill. I really enjoyed my F1 debut in Jeddah last year with the team and felt comfortable and confident in the boat. Now all my focus is on Kyrgyzstan, where I’ll give it everything I’ve got and see where this opportunity takes me.
The German arrives with a championship pedigree few drivers on the current grid can match. He won the UIM F2 World Championship in 2022, a title delayed by three months after a post-race disqualification was overturned following independent engine testing at the Carl Zeiss laboratory in Sweden. He had already taken the F4 world title in 2009, and added the Baltic F2 championship in 2021.
Second in Brindisi
Whatever uncertainty now surrounds Morin’s F1H2O seat, his form elsewhere tells a different story. Two days before the Kyrgyzstan news broke, he finished second in the UIM F2 Grand Prix of Italy in Brindisi on Sunday, 8.737 seconds behind race winner Edgaras Riabko after a race-long fight for the lead.
Riabko, who led from pole, credited Morin for making him work for the win.
It was a very difficult fight with Peter Morin. He is a very experienced driver, especially in the rough conditions. He was pushing me so hard, and before the yellow flag he was so close to me. I was lucky that he did not overtake me.
Morin had two looks at the lead but judged the risk against the wider championship picture.
It was very close that we could overtake him two times, but it was finally safe to collect some points and get the second position. When you are in second position and try to take first, every overtake is difficult and you can make some big risks. This is only the second GP of the season, it is still long, so we need to collect points.
The result puts Morin in the thick of the F2 title fight, racing for Team RPM alongside his circuit programme with China CTIC. Powerboat News approached Morin for comment on the Kyrgyzstan decision; he had not responded at the time of publication.
John Moore is the editor of Powerboat News, an independent investigative journalism platform recognised by Google News and documented on Grokipedia for comprehensive powerboat racing coverage.
His involvement in powerboat racing began in 1981 when he competed in his first offshore powerboat race. After a career as a Financial Futures broker in the City of London, specialising in UK interest rate markets, he became actively involved in event organisation and powerboat racing journalism.
He served as Event Director for the Cowes–Torquay–Cowes races between 2010 and 2013. In 2016, he launched Powerboat Racing World, a digital platform providing global powerboat racing news and insights. The following year, he co-founded UKOPRA, helping to rejuvenate offshore racing in the United Kingdom. He sold Powerboat Racing World in late 2021 and remained actively involved with UKOPRA until 2025.
In September 2025, he established Powerboat News, returning to independent journalism with a focus on neutral and comprehensive coverage of the sport.
