| 11/23/2009 3:00:00 PM | Email this article • Print this article |
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| The U-1 Oh Boy! Oberto/Miss Madison overcame a blowover accident to defend it’s National High Points championship Saturday in Doha, Qatar, and win the APBA Martini & Rossi Trophy as the series’ champion. Driver Steve David is congratulated by his new fans in Doha. (H1 Unlimited photo) |
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| U-7 Graham Trucking driver J. Michael Kelly won the race, his first ever in the Unlimiteds. (H1 Unlimited photo) |
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Oberto Soars to Back-to-Back Championships
U-1 survives blowover to score miracle title defense
David Campbell
Courier Sportswriter
Steve David needed a miracle in order to win his second-straight High Points Championship.
As it turns out, he got two.
David overcame a potentially devastating blowover accident in an earlier heat to drive the U-1 Oh Boy! Oberto/Miss Madison to its second-straight National Championship Saturday on Doha Bay in Doha, Qatar.
The Oberto did a 360-degree flip while leading Heat 4A and, as a result, needed a lot of help to win its second points title. It got it when first, closest pursuer Jeff Bernard blew over the U-5 Formulaboats.com at the start of the final heat, then second, when odds-on favorite Dave Villwock experienced engine trouble in the U-16 Ellstrom Elam Plus in the re-running of the final.
Thanks to that unlikely series of events, David was able to take second place in the Final Heat of the inaugural Oryx Cup UIM World Championship and win the Points title by a mere 235 points.
"You want to win; you just never want to win that way," David said of Villwock's engine troubles and Bernard's accident. "But you have to refuse to lose. You can't give up. You've got to try."
David had built a sizable lead and put himself in position to clinch the title heading into Heat 4A thanks to a steady weekend that included one heat win and two second places.
He got a battle from J. Michael Kelly and the U-7 Graham Trucking in the fourth heat, but had begun to pull away on lap two when disaster struck.
Flying toward the entrance of turn two, the Oberto hit a roller and caught a gust of air, going end-over-end through the air. As it turned out, the 360-degree flip landed the boat rightside up and David, whose only injury was a bruised leg, was able to drive the boat back to the pits.
"J. Michael was pushing us more than anybody had all weekend," David said. "I just hit that roller and it was over after that."
An inspection of the boat on shore showed no major damage, but the team was forced to take zero points in the heat, opening the door for either Bernard or Villwock to seize the title.
Matched up in Heat 4B, both jumped the starting gun and were assessed one-lap penalties, giving the Oh Boy! Oberto its first break. Then came the wild sequence of events in the final heat that sealed the title.
Forced to start the final from lane five, David needed a lot of help to even have a chance to defend his crown. Bernard's unfortunate accident after one lap opened the door. Exiting turn two, Bernard overcorrected and drove into the Elam's roostertail, catching air and flipping over.
"I just got caught up and there was nothing I could do," said Bernard, who also escaped significant injury.
Just like that, Bernard was out of the final and out of the points race. David then caught his third break when the U-17 Our Gang Racing withdrew from the final because of engine damage. Suddenly, the Oberto found itself in a significantly more competitive lane three.
Needing only to catch Kelly, who was in lane two, to win the title, David was dealt a blow when he swung out too wide at the start of the final and hit the starting line well behind the Elam and Graham Trucking. By lap three, David was stuck in third place, a quarter of a lap back and watching the championship disappear in the front-running Elam's roostertail.
But salt buildup on the temperamental turbine engines began to show up on all four boats. As their compressors began to stall, each belched flames out their exhaust tubes and their speeds started to drop. None was more visible than the Elam, which was shooting enough flame to resemble a jet engine afterburner by lap four.
With the engine in trouble, the Elam began to slow noticeably and both Kelly and David took advantage to zoom by. By the time Villwock had coaxed his boat back up to speed, it was too late.
"I think the salt buildup just got to be too much and it couldn't run anymore," Villwock said. "It looked like we had it, all three championships, but it just wasn't meant to be."
David had no chance of catching Kelly, but the veteran driver didn't need to. He hung on for second place and clinched the Points title in the process.
"God tests you in a lot of ways," David said. "The blowover happened for a reason. What a good day for us."
Kelly took the checkered flag for his first win as an Unlimited driver. Flanked by David and his teammate, Bernard, on the dock, the 30-year-old driver fought hard to hold back tears of joy.
"This is amazing," Kelly said. "I grew up watching Steve David and Dave Villwock race and now here I am, racing against them. Words can't explain how I feel right now.
"When I saw the flames on the Elam I said 'here's my chance.' I got lucky, drove hard and just tried to put myself in a good position."
Villwock recovered to finish third in the race and second in the High Points. Jean Theoret was fourth in the U-37 Miss Peters & May.
The rough and salty water played havoc with nearly every boat in the field with only five of the original 10 in race condition by the end. The U-25 Superior Racing and U-5 Formulaboats.com both withdrew with damage while the U-100 Leland Racing, U-22 Matrix Systems and U-17 Our Gang Racing were victims of the heavy salt. Doha Bay has a salt level that is roughly twice that of San Diego's Mission Bay.
Villwock won three of the four preliminary heats in which he competed on the weekend with Kelly winning two. David, Bernard and Theoret also had heat wins.
The back-to-back National titles for Miss Madison Racing are the first by a non-Miss Budweiser team since the Chip Hanauer-driven Atlas Van Lines in 1982-83. David also clinched his fourth Driver's Championship in five years, tying him with legends Dean Chenoweth and Mark Tate for fourth all-time behind only Villwock (9) and Hanauer and Bill Muncey (7 each) on the all-time list.
"This is my fourth and it's amazing to be in the group of drivers that I am," said David, "I just feel blessed right now."
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