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Jan Trygve Braaten to race The Blue Roo XCAT with Pal Virik Nilsen

John Moore on 28th March 2018

Team Australia team principals Brett and Lori Luhrmann have announced their XCAT Racing crew line-up for the 2018 season.

Brett Luhrmann will step down as pilot with the team’s Chief Engineer Jan Trygve Braaten, a former UIM Class 3 World Champion taking over at the wheel of the ‘The Blue Roo’.

Braaten’s fellow Norwegian, Pal Virik Nilsen will be on the throttles again this year.

Lars Inge Graver has been appointed General Manager of Team Australia and said:

Losing the 2017 UIM XCAT World Championship by one point in the final round after a devastating crash in qualifying is motivation enough for the team to go one better this year.

Commenting on Luhrmann’s absence from the boat:

We had planned for Brett to step out of the boat this season as business commitments and his responsibilities as President of OPTA (Offshore Powerboat Teams Association) have grown.
As a racer leaving the boat was a hard decision for Brett, but after the last crash his shoulder now needed the surgery that, after years of Racing, had to be done.
This move will allow Brett to focus on the development of OPTA and the XCAT World Championship.

The first event of the 2018 season is in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates over 11th – 13th April.

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