TEAM ORTM PREPARES 2005 CHALLENGE; ANNOUNCES NEW ENGINE SUPPLY DEAL WITH STEYR MOTORS

Following the dramatic loss of 2003 World Champion boat Ceramica Flaminia to fire at the British Grand Prix, Team ORTM has decided to prepare and develop a new Baguette hull in its effort to recapture the World Powerboat P1 SuperSport title.

Antonio "Toto" Gualdambrini, together with Lucio Stefani and Emanuele Mangione, are again back at work with the Barracuda shipyard to construct their 2005 entry to the Championship - a new Baguette 365. This is the fourth time in a long association that Toto Gualdambrini has looked to Barracuda to prepare him for competition. Toto has raced with Barracuda boats in two Italian national classes, winning the Italian Championship with a Barracuda 25' in 1987-88, and of course winning the UIM Powerboat P1 World Championship in SuperSport class in 2003 with a Barracuda 35'.

In a major new development, Team ORTM has announced that it is partnering with STEYR MOTORS, the Austria-based marine diesel specialists from the Steyr-Daimler-Puch group of companies, in an engine supply deal. This deal will see Team ORTM racing with inboard STEYR MO256H45 engines for the 2005 season. Toto Gualdambrini stated "Team ORTM is busy working on an exciting new project that includes a new Baguette paired with STEYR engine technology. We will have a lot of work over the next few months to move through construction to rigging and testing but we are determined to come back into the Powerboat P1 World Championship and compete again for the title. The engine deal with STEYR MOTORS opens new opportunities for us and we are thrilled to be back".

Commenting on Team ORTM's announcement, KBL Sport and Technical Director Max Lippi said "Everyone will be pleased to hear that Toto and Team ORTM are back in the Championship and their announcement about the new Baguette with the support of STEYR MOTORS is a very interesting development. The STEYR 256 is a new engine designed for the pleasure boat market and it has a great OMC heritage. This is a great example of manufacturers working with teams to benefit from the Powerboat P1 platform."

For more information about the team please visit http://www.ortmoffshore.com/

For more information about Powerboat Races please visit www.powerboatp1.com