No surprises in the heat races on Sunday. The expected winners held true to course as Kip Brown, Steve David, and Dave Villwock won the first three unlimited hydroplane heat races on Sunday from Madison, Indiana.
Heat 2A
Towards the end of last season, the U-17 started to run very fast. Kip Brown took it up a notch on Saturday with the fastest competition lap speed. And on Sunday in Madison, Indiana, Kip made it two-for-two in heat racing by storming away with Heat 2A.
"The Red Dot boat is kicking butt this weekend," said Brown. after the win "I'm super stoked."
Heat 2A Results
- U-17 Kip Brown
- U-100 Greg Hopp
- U-57 Mark Evans
- U-22 Mike Webster
Heat 2B
J. Michael Kelly was making his debut in the U-88 - a brand new boat - and the boat coughed a few times getting up and running on the course.
At the start line, it was JW Myers hitting the line first with David right on his tail. Coming out of the first turn, however, David took the lead. By the end of the first lap, David opened up a roostertail lead over Myers.
Scott Liddycoat, a 5-liter driver in his first Unlimited racing weekend, had to start behind the field and tried to reel in Myers. Meanwhile, the U-88 had to pull off the course. Liddycoat drove past Myers in the U-7 to move into second place. Liddycoat made a run at David, but couldn't get closer than a couple of roostertails.
"It's (the course) starting to roughen up," said David.
Heat 2B Results
- U-1 Steve David
- U-7 Scott Liddycoat
- U-11 JW Myers
DNF. U-88 J. Michael Kelly
Heat 2C
On Saturday, Dave Villwock won coming from the outside lane. On Sunday, Villwock grabbed the inside lane and ran away with the race.
Villwock hit the start line first and opened up a full roostertail lead by the time he hit the back stretch. Jeff Bernard in the U-5 moved up into second and Brian Perkins in the U-21 was in third.
In the second lap, Bernard moved to the inside and picked up a bigger lead over Perkins and that's about the way they finished.
Heat 2C Results
- U-96 Dave Villwock
- U-5 Jeff Bernard
- U-21 Brian Perkins
Heat 3A
Jeff Bernard grabbed lane one and led the group across the line. Steve David in lane three was hot on his heels. The U-5 looked faster than previous runs and he took a roostertail lead over David.
Brian Perkins was in lane two, but had slipped behind the two leaders.
RED FLAG ON THE COURSE!
The heat was stopped when Perkins' boat went into the restricted area. He was slowing after missing a buoy and collided with a rescue boat. The U-21 was throwing off smoke for a short time. Perkins popped the cockpit open and got out on his own. Rescue divers went in the water.
UPDATE: Three people from the rescue boat were sent to a local hospital to be checked out.
Heat 3A Draw
U-1 Steve David
U-5 Jeff Bernard
U-21 Brian Perkins
U-22 Mike Webster
U-21 collides with patrol boat in Heat 3A ~ PHOTO: HydroInsider Archives
Brian Perkins, driver of the U-21 ~ PHOTO: HydroInsider Archives
