Worlds best throttleman

[Ben Mazur]

I was listening to the Talk Offshore broadcast of the St Clair race earlier today when one of the commentators spoke about John Tomlinson and referred to him as "arguably" the best throttleman in the world".

With respect to John Tomlinson who I do not know, one has to wonder why Steve Curtis (who I do know and so perhaps I am biased) never seems to get the credit (especially here in the US) that he so rightfully deserves.

Eight time UIM Class 1 World Champion, US Champion with Reliable last year. Steve creates championships with whomever he partners. Best throttleman in the world, easy choice - Steve Curtis MBE.

[ForTwo]

Indeed, Curtis deserves all the credit. quess that commentator was Tomlinson brother in law or somt :rolleyes:

[littlenige]

If it's decided on achievement then you would possibly say with some conviction that with so many championships under his belt he is undisputedly the best ever. Period.

But! Let's not forget all those who went before and helped mold the sport into what it is today. I would argue that most of the best throttlemen for reasons of numbers and experience alone would be from the US - so many! My personal all time greatest is without doubt Richie Powers. Then of course you have the likes of the italians - Franco Statua and Diridoni - tremendously successful Italian t-men.

It could also be said (and this is going to be controversial!) that having ended up on the rocks in the CTC all those years ago was 'reckless' to say the least. Of course he wasn't the only one to do it! But he could so easily have ended up in court on manslaughter charges.

....standing back and awaiting the flack coming my way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[geriatric]

:cool: A few years ago World of Powerboats ran a feature called Simply the Best which featured the world's top throttlemen and although Steve Curtis won the popular vote, I recall he did not win the most races. In the top five were Tomlinson, Jim Dyke, Renato Della Valle, Fabio Buzzi and Harald 'Smitty' Smith