For Superboat Vee-class competitor Brit Lilly, no one has been more helpful than Steve Miklos, his fiercest rival this season. Photo courtesy/copyright Pete Boden/Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.
Two days ago at the Super Boat International Park Ohio Grand Prix on Lake Erie in Mentor, Ohio, Brit Lilly notched his first Superboat Vee-class victory of the 2016 season. Lilly, who drives LSB/Hurricane of Awesomeness, a 29-foot Extreme V-bottom with a 650-hp Joey Griffin engine, with throttleman Ron Umlandt was overdue for a win. At the previous two SBI events, Lilly and Umlandt had raced closely with owner/throttleman Steve Miklos and driver Steve Fehrmann in Sunprint, another 29-foot Extreme. And at the past two events, Lilly and Umlandt had come up short in exhilarating, hard-charging efforts that included at least two spinouts.
But not this time. That Sunprint didn’t make it to Mentor—Miklos kept the boat back in Florida for repairs to its transom from the race prior in Michigan City, Ind.—didn’t matter. LSB/Hurricane of Awesomeness diced it out with Octane, but in the end Lilly and Umlandt won convincingly.
As most offshore racing fans know, Brit Lilly is a legacy—he’s the 30-year-old son of famed offshore racer Art Lilly. But while his father is always there for him, Miklos, his toughest competitor on the racecourse, has been his biggest ally and strongest mentor within the Superboat Vee class since he began competing in it two years ago after a successful run on the Offshore Powerboat Association circuit.
and then