Floatin'...
Albert Lee Cup - H1 Unlimited
Defending national high point champion Steve David in the U-1 Oh Boy! Oberto and arch rival Dave Villwock in the U-96 Spirit of Qatar battled each other and a rough Lake Washington throughout the five lap final heat of the 2010 Albert Lee Cup at Seafair with David using the inside advantage to take the win.
The combination of high speed and rough water had both boats high out of the water and on the ragged edge throughout the final with David saying, "The trick was to keep the prop in the water so it was pushing the boat, which meant you had to get the nose in the air."
"Winning in Seattle is so special," David continued. "It's Art Oberto's 83rd birthday, the Oberto company is located here and we had a lot of their friends and family with us."
David also pointed out that it was the team's third win of the season and added, "That is something we have never done before. Just another reason why this win is special."
A critical point in the chase for the Seafair trophy and the series high point championship came in heat 2A. Villwock and David were relegated to the outside as a result of their victories in 1A and 1B. With the faster qualifying speed, Villwock drew last and started in lane six, outside of David in lane five.
The pair raced for third and fourth behind heat winner Brian Perkins in the U-21 Miss Albert Lee Appliance and J Michael Kelly in the U-7 Graham Trucking. David survived the challenge from Villwock and finished fourth with Villwock fifth. The advantage gained there stayed with him the rest of day and resulted in lane one for the final.
David's lead in national hight points stood at 370 when the weekend started, with Villwock reducing it to 350 by topping the qualifying ladder. That was as close as it got. As a result of the outcome, David and the U-1 Oh Boy! Oberto team will fo the final event of the year on Doha Bay in Qatar in November with a 506 point lead.
Access all the latest news from around the hydroplane circuit through the H1 Unlimited website.
Graham Trucking Cup - Unlimited Lights
Excellent racing by the Unlimited Light hydroplanes warmed up a drizzly day in Seattle. Paul Becker led the way with heat victories in 1B and 2A and both were closely contested. Becker, driving the UL-14 Sammamish Mortgage-Western Washington University College of Engineering and Technology-GO NAVY took first place over
Kayleigh Perkins in the UL-72 Foster Care-Triad Racing Technologies in a battle to the finish line. Both drivers had to overhaul Rod Bourke in the UL-5 Vestus Foreclosure Group who won the start and led much of the first lap before finishing third.
Heat 2A saw Wil Muncey in the UL-00 John Howie Steak secure the favored inside lane and he nailed the start, leading for most of the first lap. Becker took over the lead exiting the second turn but Muncey drove an inspired race on the inside to finish within a roostertail length. That effort became very meaningful after the end of Heat 2B.
Bob Smets, who won Heat 1A in impressive fashion over Kevin Eacret and Muncey, didn't time his start well in 2A. Still he drove the UL-20 Smetco.com-Pallet Handling Equipment strongly throughout the heat to wind up third, passing Rod Bourke on the final straightaway. Fifth place in Heat 2A went to Joe Souza in the US Army UL-9 as the team continued a successful first day of racing with a supercharged engine after a three-month engine conversion effort.
Heat 2B was as good as it gets. It began with Vince Xaudaro in the UL-929 Hyundai Assurance winning the start and leading after the first lap. Kayleigh Perkins was second, just to the outside of Xaudaro, and she edged closer where at the white flag the two racers were dead even. Finally, on the backstretch of the final lap Perkins moved in front but Xaudaro came right back and they were virtually even at the exit pin. In a drag race finish the win went to Perkins with Xaudaro second, Kevin Eacret in the Power Punch-94.5 ROXY-K&N Engineering finishing third and Austin Eacret in the Miss Bison Creek Pizza-Depew Balancing Services taking fourth.
At the conclusion of the day, Becker leads in points with 800 followed by Perkins with 700; Smets has 625 while Muncey and Kevin Eacret each have 525 points. The top four teams by points advance to the Final and the 4th place tie is broken by current season points. Wil Muncey is in the Final and Kevin Eacret will try to earn a berth in the Final in Sunday's B-Main where the top four finishing teams will qualify for the 8-boat championship heat for the Graham Trucking Cup, presented by Power Punch Performance Lubricants.
