São Paulo – The Lebanese-descendant Brazilian Lebos Ribeiro Chaguri (pictured above in red) was announced as two-time champion of the Formula 3000 Powerboat World Championship. In the sport, pilots run a high-speed boat race. The 2019 championship only had schedule races last May in Malaysia, where Lebos won. The final phase, which would take place in the second half of the year in Singapura, tough, was cancelled. Adding up the points, the powerboating event organizers announced the Brazilian as the 2019 winner in December 21.
The events in May that determine Chaguri’s win took place in Muar, the same city where he was the 2018 champion. The pilot came in second at Match Race, a phase consisting in boat-to-boat races. He won the pole position and, in the general race, whose points worthy more in the final ranking, came in first.
The main race, the pilot says, was challenging. “Weather was pretty bad in that race. A lot of big waves, several boats suffering accidents. The organizers were almost cancelling it, but the race continued. I was racing against my team partner. We fought until his boat broke and I overran him,” he recalls.
For 2020, the Brazilian has already renewed its contract with Fernandez Racing. Lebos runs with them since 2017. He believes the win may help spread the powerboat, a sport that is quite popular in Asia. “I believe this victory may open doors in Brazil. Now, there’s many races in the South [of the country]. I went there to watch but I don’t participate. I’ve ran internationally since 2020, that’s why I participate in the world championship now,” explains the Lebanese-Brazilian pilot.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
