THUNDER ON THE OHIO - FINAL
FINAL HEAT!
U-5 FormulaBoats.com (Jeff Bernard)
U-37 Beacon Plumbing (Jean Theoret)
U-50 Spirit of the Navy (Brian Perkins)
U-6 Oh Boy! Oberto / Miss Madison (Steve David)
U-10 Ahern Rentals (David Bryant)
U-7 FormulaBoats.com (Mike Allen)
U-13 Graham Trucking (J Michael Kelly)
Seven boats for the Evansville final prepare to hit the water. Seven drivers anxious to prove their skills are better than the other. Seven teams with crewmembers that have given all they have to make their equipment the best on the water. This is the final!
The most critical part of racing here in Evansville is getting the inside lane. With six drivers jockeying for that lane timing is everything. Coming to the start Jean Theroet took the inside lane away from U5 driven by Jeff Bernard. Through the first turn it was Theoret pulling away from the Oberto and U5 FormulaBoats.com. Coming out of lap two it was Beacon Plumbing 7 boats ahead of U6 Oh Boy! Oberto / Miss Madison and U5 FormulaBoats.com. Lap Three Theoret set in to the number one spot as the other followed. Final lap it was U37 Beacon Plumbing, then U6 Oh Boy! Oberto then U7 formulaboats.com then U5 formulaboats.com then U10 Ahearn Rental then U50 Spirit of the navy. The 13 Graham Trucking went dead on the back stretch.
Final is scheduled for 4:30pm CDT in Evansville.
U-5 FormulaBoats.com (Jeff Bernard)
U-37 Beacon Plumbing (Jean Theoret)
U-50 Spirit of the Navy (Brian Perkins)
U-6 Oh Boy! Oberto / Miss Madison (Steve David)
U-10 Ahern Rentals (David Bryant)
U-7 FormulaBoats.com (Mike Allen)
U13 Graham Trucking (J Michael Kelly) - TRAILER
We are having internet issues again. Hope it stays up for us.
There will not be a connie, and the U100 has wd. That means U13 is trailer
There's discussion that there will NOT be a provisional heat. Also hearing that David Bryant and the U-10 may have been DSQ'd in Heat 3A... we'll check on that.
"We are not the fastest boat here," U-7 FormulaBoats.com drive Mike Allen told WORX after winning Heat 3B. "But we're set up to try to run on rough water."
Allen had talked earlier about how they lost as much as 8 mph from where they ran last year. He said they might have picked up 1 of those 8 this weekend. So, it was important to have the right set-up for the boat and Ted Porter's FormulaBoats.com delivered.
"You've got the competition, but you've got that river out there, too," he said.
In the finals...
U-5 FormulaBoats.com (Jeff Bernard)
U-37 Beacon Plumbing (Jean Theoret)
U-50 Spirit of the Navy (Brian Perkins)
U-6 Oh Boy! Oberto / Miss Madison (Steve David)
U-10 Ahern Rentals (David Bryant)
U-7 FormulaBoats.com (Mike Allen)
Provisional (if it happens) would be...
U-100 Mirageboats.com (Greg Hopp)
U-13 Graham Trucking (J. Michael Kelly)
... with the winner as a trailer for the finals.
U-3 Master Tire (Jimmy King) and U-25 Jarvis Fire and Water Repair (Ken Muscatel) are done for the day.
Heat 3B Results
Heat 3B had U6 Oberto, U50 Spirit of the Navy, U100 mirageboats.com and the U7 formulaboats.com.
The Oberto was the first boat out as Steve David took to the waters. Greg Hopp and the U100 followed close after. Scoring up here were the lane assignments as they came around it was, from lane one out, the 7,6,50 and 100.
Legal start as they run down the front stretch as Mike Allen drove the 7 past the Oberto and lead into the east turn.
Oberto and Spirit pushing Allen as he takes lap one. Into the west turn Allen still in the lead by 5 rooster tails the Oberto pushing him all the way.
It was a do or die for the 7 to win this race. On the final lap Allen was still leading, as David was close on his hip. Allen wins the heat with Oberto second Spirit of the Navy third and mirageboats.com fourth.
Heat 3A will go down as a heat that had thrills from start-to-finish.
The start of the heat saw the U13 struggling to get on plane before the start and J. Michael Kelly was sitting in the west turn as the rest of the field was coming around for the start. Continuing to try and breathe life out of the engine compartment, Kelly finally got it started enough to get it into the infield on the back stretch.
Coming out the first turn, it was U37 Beacon Plumbing and the U1o Ahern Rental deck to deck down the backstretch. On lap two, it looked from my angle on the beach that the U10 encroached on the U37 as David Bryant pushed Theoret into a buoy. The officials thought so also and gave the 10 a one-lap penalty. It was Beacon, formulaboats.com Ahern Rental in that order.
JMK was a DNS.
PHOTO - Jim Simpson
U-3 is done for the weekend due to damage sustained in Heat 2B.
PHOTO - Jim Simpson
Heat 3A Results
Ever wonder how they do the heat draws and just how much of a "blind draw" it really is? This video from the draws for Heat 1A and Heat 1B are done by local kids from Evansville.
Props again to WORX for providing live streaming play-by-play of the races.
I'm pretty sure the feed has silence instead of music in between races because radio stations have to pay an additional fee now to stream music. It's ridiculous and expensive (OK, that was an editorial comment on my part). Because of the new rules and fees, most stations have stopped airing music and only air local programming. I suspect that's why WORX is doing things they way they are.
LIVE STREAM IS BACK UP NOW
I was just thinking about how great it is that Greg O'Farrell's new entry for this season, the U-50 Spirit of the Navy, won in its first heat.
Yes. Not only did the boat win a race, but a strange series of events left the U-25 (then designated U-2.25) at the top of the point standing after the first day of racing in Detroit one year.
My hats off to KNDU and Paul for allowing this site to come to fruition. Thanks Paul for your support to Unlimited Hydroplane Racing.
Joe McCord
I love how the internet has brought Hydroplane racing fans from all over the world together. Right now on this blog we have visitors from Holland, Hawaii, Washington, Michigan, California, Arizona, Alaska, Illinois, Oregon, Rhode Island, Indiana, Kentucky, Wisconsin and New Jersey following today's races.
ABRAHydroplanes.com reports "Ken Muscatel not only lost a stabilizer but he also reportedly has a fuel link that could keep him out of action this afternoon."
Another sign of how rough the water is right now... J. Michael Kelly was seen by the local on-site nurse due to his arms being sore from steering the U-13 Graham Trucking boat.
A little ice on the arms and he is good as new.
Heat 3A draw
U-37 Miss Beacon Plumbing
U-5 Formulaboats.com
U-13 Graham Trucking
U-10 Ahern Rentals
U-25 Jarvis Fire & Water Repair
Heat 3B draw
U-50 Spirit of the Navy
U-3 Master Tire
U-7 Formulaboats.com
U-100 Mirageboats.com
U-6 Oh Boy Oberto
Here's the unofficial count of point totals through Heat 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B
700 - U-5 Formulaboats.com
625 -U-50 Spirit of the Navy
625 -U-10 Ahern Rentals
569 -U-6 Oh Boy! Oberto
525 -U-37 Beacon Plumbing
427 -U-7 Formulaboats.com
300 -U-13 Graham Trucking
225 -U-3 Master Tire
169 -U-100 Mirageboats.com
169 -U-25 Superior Racing
Water's rough. "Horribly rough," Heat 2B winner David Bryant told WORX. "We were bouncing all over the place." It didn't help that he got his foot stuck on the up pedal going into a turn and had to fight to get the boat back under control, he said.
PHOTO - Jim Simpson
Heat 2B Results
David Bryant beat everybody across the line in the U-10, but Jimmy King grabbed the lead coming out of the first turn.
Muscatel in the U-25 did not get in the water Friday or Saturday and went dead in the water in his first heat on Sunday. King was leading for the first two laps when something went wrong. The U-3 went dead. Muscatel got the U-25 fired back up and managed to finish the race.
The U5 formulaboats.com driven by Jeff Bernard and the U37 Beacon Plumbing, Jimmy King driving Ed Coopers U3 Master Tire and the U10 Ahearn Rentals driven by David Bryant provided the fastest heat of the day. Rounding out the boats in this heat were the U25 Superior Racing driven by Ken Muscatel. First boat out on the course is Ken Muscatel in the U25.
Muscatel was informed that he needs to stay to the outside, as this is a newly rebuilt boat.
Apparently there was some concern from the other drivers that the U6 in the last heat was swinging wide in the turns. Steve David was asked to try and hold his corners a little tighter.
Scoring it up as they come down to the start of the heat lane 1 to U3 2 to the 10, 3 to 37 and the 4 to lane 5. Swinging wide as they come down to the start it was a perfect start to with the U3 screaming down the backstretch leading all the turbines. Second to the 10 third to the 5 and 37 in 4th. Jimmy King is leading the way as he pulls it down the back stretch and leading about 7 rooster tails. Coming into the east turn the Allison power plant blew trailing smoke down the front stretch. That opened the door for David Bryant to take the lead in the U10 Ahearn Rentals and win the heat. Second to U5 and third to the 37 with the U25 finishing in 4th.
Steve David on WORX radio after he learned he'd jumped the gun in heat 2A: "I knew we were prefectly legal." When he heard the call, "I went berserk," he said. "I used some words... the kind you have to ask for forgiveness for."
He also said the water's rough. "They are a good two foot rollers out there."
PHOTO - Jim Simpson
Heat 2A here in Evansville turned out to be a barnburner as the U6 Oh Boy! Oberto driven by Steve David and the U13 Graham Trucking driven by J Michael Kelly dueled side by side as both boats needed the points to be able to get into the winner take all final.
The first boat on the water was the U6 as Steve David needed to garner the points that were lost from yesterdays running of heat 1A. The U50 Spirit of the Navy driven by Brian Perkins and U7 formulaboats.com driven by Mike Allen had trouble as he tried to get the fire lit in the Lycoming power plant. However ,he got it lit and under way with plenty of time. Also joining the heat was Greg Hopp in the U100 mirageboats.com
Winds from the west caused a little chop as the boats scored up for the start of the heat. With 1 minute to the start the U6 parked it in lane 1 with the 7 in 2 and 13 in 3 50 in 4 and the 100 in lane 5.
In the first turn it was Oberto in front coming down the backstretch with the 13 and 5 close by. Pulling down the front it was the 13 charging hard in second and 5 in third 4 to 50 and 100 in 5.David stretched it out to about a 7 boat lead in lap two as the 13 and 5 fought deck to deck for second, Kelly hanging it out in the outside lane keeping the 5 inside of him. The U 7 had a one-lap penalty for jumping the gun.
First went to Steve David, J Michael Kelly Second and U50 Spirit of the Navy third..
Heat 2A Results
At the start of Heat 2A, it was determined that Mike Allen in the U-7 and Steve David in the U-6 jumped the gun. Despite running out front, that meant J. Michael Kelly in the U-13 was the leader as both the U-7 and U-6 were assessed a one-lap penalty.
After review, it was determined that Allen did jump the gun, but David did not. That boosted the U-6 to its first heat win of 2008 and moved J. Michael into 2nd place.
Sunday media round-up:
Emerging teams give series 'unlimited' hope >>
EVANSVILLE COURIER-PRESS
Improved competition boosts unlimited circuit >>
EVANSVILLE COURIER-PRESS
Kent drivers capture hydro heats on Ohio >>
SEATTLE TIMES >>
Perkins gains steam, beats hero in heat >>
EVANSVILLE COURIER-PRESS
Thunder On The Ohio Rookie Wins Heat Race >>
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Greg Hopp just took to the water to turn a few laps. The boat running the famous red white and blue colors looked actually pretty good running some lo speed laps dialing the boat in.
In the pits now is the U100 driven by Greg Hopp. The boat arrived in the pits last night and the team has been working on their boat to ready it for competition. Also, the U25 driven by Ken Muscatel has just been weighed, making sure that the boat conforms to the rules for ABRA.
Several hydros went to the water in this morning test session. The first boat out was the U37 Beacon Plumbing. While on the water he was joined by Jeff Bernard in the U5 and Mike Kelly in the U13 Graham Trucking. Kelly no doubt was testing the canopy lact that gave them trouble yesterday and caused them to not answer the call for their heat. he went out and turned a 147+ speed.
Good Morning! The weather is absolutely awesome here in Evansville. Sunny skys calm river and we have boats ready to go into the water. As I type, the U37 Beacon Plumbing and the U5 formulaboats.com are waiting for the course to open. More very soon!
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