Six hours into Race 1 of the 24 Heures Motonautiques de Normandie 2026 and Team Touax MRK Racing’s Boat 2 leads on 250 laps, 545km covered on the 2.183km River Seine circuit at Poses. Halfway through the 12-hour opening race of the UIM S3 World Endurance Championship weekend, Peter Morin had one message at the midway pit stop.
Peter Morin, Team Touax MRK Racing:
“I’m loving this and I can’t wait for it to get dark.”
Team Inshore Performance’s Boat 1 (Alexis Fischer, Loic Huet and Aymeric Troussel) is one lap behind in second. Pierre Lambert, Romain Nedelec and Alexandre Jean keep Boat 9 (Team Torpilleur Racing) in third, seven laps off the lead.
Protest pending for Monsnauteam
Boat 38 (Monsnauteam) is fourth on 235 laps, a protest over their eight-lap penalty still unresolved. Benjamin Berti, Maverick Grolet, Hilmer Wiberg and Adam Wrenkler argue that the two buoys struck in hour two were a single incident, worth three penalty laps rather than eight. Stewards have yet to rule; if the protest is upheld, five of the eight penalty laps would be returned.
Akvashelf Racing fifth despite penalty laps
The Latvian and Lithuanian crew of Boat 69 (Toms Smilskalns, Niklavs Rimeicans, Nida Kilinskaite and Paulius Stainys) hold fifth on 235 laps despite eight penalty laps on their tally. BRT Maverick Racing’s Boat 27 is sixth on 232, Club Motonautique Normand’s Boat 87 seventh on 227.
Abbate, team manager
Team Autovision’s Boat 5 lies eighth on 199 laps. Tullio Abbate, the Italian boat builder, is team manager, with Philippe Karras, Jean-Paul Karras and Maitos Konstantinos at the wheel.
Brisset out for the day
Boat 13 (GSET by MRC) remains stranded on 60 laps, Jérémy Brisset’s flip in hour two ending the team’s Friday. They may return for Saturday’s Race 2 with a second hull. Boat 6 (Team VSI Racing) is 11th and last on 31 laps.
Six-Hour Standings – Race 1 (Provisional)
| Pos | Boat | Team | Laps | Gap | Pen |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Team Touax MRK Racing | 250 | – | 0 |
| 2 | 1 | Team Inshore Performance | 249 | -1 | 0 |
| 3 | 9 | Team Torpilleur Racing | 243 | -7 | 0 |
| 4 | 38 | Monsnauteam | 235 | -15 | 8* |
| 5 | 69 | Akvashelf Racing | 235 | -15 | 8 |
| 6 | 27 | BRT Maverick Racing | 232 | -18 | 0 |
| 7 | 87 | Club Motonautique Normand | 227 | -23 | 0 |
| 8 | 5 | Team Autovision | 199 | -51 | 3 |
| 9 | 86 | Slovakia Team | 195 | -55 | 0 |
| 10 | 13 | GSET by MRC | 60 | -190 | 0 |
| 11 | 6 | Team VSI Racing | 31 | -219 | 0 |
*Boat 38 penalty subject to stewards’ decision on protest. Boats 38 and 69 separated by distance on same lap count. Provisional at six hours.
The Norman sun has been out all day, free entry drawing families and locals to the riverbanks in numbers the food vendors on site were not entirely expecting. The Eglise Saint-Quentin, known locally as l’eglise des bateliers, watches over proceedings from beyond the treeline.
Race 1 runs until midnight CEST. Race 2 starts Saturday morning.
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.
