Team Bermuda driver David Selley and throttle man Steven Bridges returned to a heroes welcome at LF Wade International Airport yesterday.

Family, friends and well-wishers were on hand to greet the pair, who soared to new heights after their victorious campaign at the Key West World Championship in Florida.

“It feels pretty good to have everybody down here to say congrats, it’s pretty awesome. A little embarrassing, but it’s nice to have everybody down here,” Bridges told The Royal Gazette.

Selley added: “I wasn’t expecting all this. A pretty cool moment and just trying to take it all in.”

The dynamic duo won two of the three races in the Super Stock class to clinch a maiden world title and complete an impressive double after also winning the National Championship this year.

“Just an awesome season for us and you can’t ask for anything better. To dominate like we guys did in every race, podium for every single race we were in, and then to cap it off with the worlds is a dream come true,” Bridges said.

“We now have a couple of months break, which is kind of nice, but maybe it’s not because I want to go racing again. I want to go next weekend.”

Selley added: “We had a bit of a plan and it was just amazing that everything came together and just can’t thank everybody enough. It’s awesome to be part of and can’t really put it into words.

“There’s high highs and low lows in and outside of racing life. So when we do something we want to do it well and we are glad we were able to pull it off. I don’t know how you top this, should probably sell the boat.

“We’ll ride this for a little bit but we got to keep our feet on the ground and stay focused.”

Selley and Bridges are only the second Bermuda team to be crowned Super Stock national and world champions in the same year behind Chris Marshall and Dennis Berry, who achieved the feat in 2000.

The pair narrowly missed out on a third title this year after finishing runner-up in the Union Internationale Motonautique (UIM) Championship.

“If we would’ve won that it would’ve been an incredible, incredible season,” Bridges said.

“It was cool enough as it is and we did very well, but getting the podium for that was awesome as well.”

Among those on hand to welcome the duo back home were former powerboat racers Carl Soares, Chris Card and Newton Adcock

“It’s fantastic but it took a lot of work to get there and they have it in their nature,” Soares, 77, said.

“You have to be of a certain character and your skills come over time because it’s not about how bull-headed you can be, but how patient you can be — and these guys have learnt the skill of patience.

“Every time we get out of our patient zone you get hurt. It happens, it’s speed. One hundred miles per hour is 150 feet per second, so it’s no messing around and these guys are doing that every second.

“I am very proud of them. I think they have a long way to go and I hope I can be there to support them along the way.”

Card, 76, is overwhelmed by Team Bermuda’s highly successful season in the United States this year.

“I am really, really ecstatic,” he said.

“I’ve followed the racing ever since they have been over there and it’s really, really awesome.

“At that level and that many boats, to come out on top of the pack is really fantastic. They are doing what the have to do, which I think is pretty good.”

Adcock, 76, added: “They have done phenomenally well and put us at the top of the standings at the World Championship.

“They are very skilled and I think quite a bit of that may come with the Round the Island races that they have done here in the boats that they were racing.

“They can see a swell or a wave and pretty well judge which way they should go on it.”