King of the Broad club meeting: 25/06/09
Date added: 27/06/09
On a warm summers evening at Oulton Broad the hydroplane drivers were competing for the famous King of the Broads Trophy which saw the Area 31 Racing Team finish second overall on a night of very entertaining racing.
The race format changed to the group handicap system for the evening and the 0-125cc GRM powered Trombetta hull of Wayne Turner was first into the race followed by the 0-250cc GRM powered Andick hull of Julian Codling thirty seconds later. The field was then completed by the 400cc Yamato outfits of Tony Knights, Rob Hales, Mike Pacey and James Marr while Area 31 Racing Driver David Jones was the final boat into the race with the 1973 500cc Konig powered Cabover hydroplane.
Putting in consistent lap times of fourty two seconds David soon found himself moving up through the field into third place looking to catch Julian Codling who was in full flight trying to catch the leader Wayne Turner. As the race progressed Julian in 0-250cc GRM powered Andick outfit started eating into Waynes lead quite significantly and going into the final corner the two drivers were neck and neck. It was all down to the run into the chequered flag and it was Julian Codling who raced through to take the win with Wayne Turner in second and David finishing closely behind in third place.
The start of the second race saw Wayne Turner in 0-125cc GRM powered Trombetta hull make a rare mistake at the Wherry turn costing valuable seconds resulting Julian Codling taking the lead with David moving up to second place. Despite the tighter cornering of the Cabover hydroplane David could not quite catch the 0-250 GRM powered Andick hull of Julian Codling who took his second win of the evening looking quicker all the time.
The final race of the evening was a fantastic race with Wayne Turner leading the way for 5 laps. As they started the final lap Julian Codling powered into the lead as they approached the Wherry turn. However a fantastic turn by David saw him squeeze through into the lead as they raced away up to the top turn. Protecting his lead at the top turn saw David on the run in taking the chequered flag for the Area 31 Racing Team ahead of Julian Codling in second and Wayne Turner in third.
The overall result saw Julian Codling (pictured above) take the King of the Broad trophy home for an impressive fourth time, with David Jones taking second overall for the Area 31 Racing Team, with Wayne Turner taking third place.
