ORANGE BEACH, AL — Florida’s record-breaking Miss Geico powerboat racing team hopes to roar to a double-header victory at Alabama’s Thunder on the Gulf in Orange Beach followed by the Pensacola Grand Prix in Florida.

“We’re excited to be back racing out on the open ocean,” Miss Geico Throttleman Scott Begovich said. “The Flora-Bama rivalry will kick things into a higher gear.”

The seven-time World Champions will tackle the Orange Beach waters first, with races Friday, Aug. 22 against a heavy field of superboat competition. Then they’ll head down the Gulf Coast to the Pensacola races on Sunday, Aug. 24.

“Anytime you line up boats with 3,300 horsepower engines on a liquid track changing with every lap there’s bound to be surprises,” Driver Marc Granet said.

While 2014 marks the 11th anniversary of Orange Beach’s “Thunder on the Gulf,” the Gulf Coast Powerboat Association decided to raise the stakes and put a new race on its heels: the inaugural Pensacola Grand Prix.

“The hope is to bring more of these mammoth race boats to the Flora-Bama coast,” event coordinator Kathy Melson said. “Race fans will be able to enjoy the races from one of 6,000 condos that line the liquid raceway. It’s like each balcony is a skybox.”

The new, 50-foot Miss Geico Victory is carrying the team’s 2014 hopes in pursuit of an eighth world title. The largest offshore racing team in the world donates 100 percent of race-prize earnings and merchandise sales to charitable foundations for United States veterans.

This year the support crew will transport the fleet to 12 offshore races, 18 national boat shows, poker runs and charity events.

“We consider it a privilege to race the world’s fastest catamaran on behalf of Geico,” Miss Geico marketing and sponsorship director Gary Goodell said, “and an honor to support wounded warriors and their families.”

The Miss Geico Victory is the fourth iteration of the powerboat team’s racing catamaran. The boat constructed of carbon, Kevlar and S-glass has been designed to house twin Mercury 1650 RACE Sterndrive engines that produce nearly 3,300 horsepower and reach top speeds exceeding 200 mph.

Driver Marc Granet and Throttleman Scotty Begovich harness the Miss Geico Victory’s power on the water, supported by Crew Chief Gary Stray and a championship team.

The Miss Geico Platinum, a 42-foot catamaran, won the first two world championships in 2006 and 2007. Its final race was in 2008.

The 44-foot Miss Geico MTI won world championships in 2008 and 2009. The 50-foot Miss Geico Mystic continued the tradition with world titles in 2010 and 2011 and the latest Miss Geico Victory boat captured the 2013 world title.