Molinari Racing Boat History and Information

[Lars Strom]

A similar Molinari boat as above..not sure where and who the driver is..

[Lars Strom]

Renato in Drammen, Norway 1980 driving his tecnocar/Evinrude V-6 looper 3 liter with fuel injection..The last picture with Renato and the Evinrude engine without cowling is the one I like best..

(The person behind Renato/engine is me..!!..)

Picture by Sture Sjoeberg

[Lars Strom]

More from Drammen, Norway 1980 in a Finnish boating magazine..Well they got the year wrong it was 1980..I have pictures from Molinari in Drammen 1981 with the bigger V-8 Evinrude. (coming later..)
This thread is going to be long..!!..please come back again..

[Master Oil Racing Team]

197 is Tommy Posey's number. I didn't remember him in a Saffa boat. Tommy and Johnny Sanders both drove for Alan Yaw's Abilene Marine. I'll go look at some old copies of Powerboat and P&W to see if there are any clues.

[Lars Strom]

Please Wayne..see what you can dig up..maybe more pictures also.

Bob Hering and his Saffa/Molinari/Johnson. Looks like a 2.4 liter.. I think this is Bristol -78. Bob spent lots of time in Italy back then..

[Lars Strom]

Here is more from the World Championship race in the OZ Class.. Drammen, Norway 1980..
The pictures in post # 34 is the start.

The front of the race program VERDENSMESTERSKAP KLASSE OZ....The price is 5 kr (Kronor)..around 75 cent back them..!!

Cees Van Der Velden came back to OMC 1979 after a short time with Mercury racing.
Bob Spalding in boat #11

I also found some good reading about the race in Powerboat & Waterskiing magazine...Velden got stung by a bee before the last heat..!!..sounds like A.J. Foyt..

The pictures are from my Norwegian friend Per Simonsen..Thank you..
They are not that sharp..sorry.
(It is hard to dig up boat racing pictures from the good old days.)

[Lars Strom]

More Drammen, Norway 1980..This is from a Swedish Boating Magazine..
130 knop is 145 MPH
Again Per Simonsen...Thank you..

Hehe..I am reading this Swedish report now that I have never seen before and they are referring to me as an expert..!!..
Well..I was there racing F-3 and maybe talked to them..don't really remember everything that happen 30 plus years ago.

[Master Oil Racing Team]

Still have a lot of looking to go Lars, but this is what I found so far. In 1978 Molinari was driving a Saffa Molinari with a black bow in the 6 Hours of Paris and his co driver was Tommy Posey. So that is Tommy in the 197 Saffa. Renato led the first lap of the 6 Hours then a series of troubles set them back, but toward the end Molinari/Posey were second behind Bob Spalding and Mike Seebold at the finish. Another interesting thing is that Jimbo McConnel was driving the second Saffa Molinari at Paris. It didn't say who his co driver is. In the second unidentified Saffa Molinari above, it is hard to read the numbers with the glare and the angle. They look like they might be 25. If it's 35, then the driver is most likely Bob Witt.

[Lars Strom]

Thanks for getting involved Wayne..
I have to look in to that..Well..know for sure I drove one of the two Molinari/Saffa boats in the OZ class Paris Six Hours 1978.
In Paris they give you a race number just for that race and ours was #11 and I think Molinari/Posey was #12
My co-pilot was Angelo Vassena and we finished fourth overall.

Our Molinari/Saffa boat was rigged with a 2.4 liter V-6 Evinrude..Do not remember if Renato used the 3 liter or not but I think he did.

[Lars Strom]

Here is a picture of the #11 Molinari/Saffa boat Angelo Vassena and I drove in Paris 1978. I can see at the helmet that the Swede is piloting..