Oulton Broad Club Meeting: 06/08/09
Date added: 10/08/09
On a bright summers evening the hydroplane drivers were competing for the Alan Darby trophy. Area 31 Racing driver David Jones took two race wins and a second position to take the trophy home for the team.
After strong performances in recent weeks with consistent lap times of 40-41 seconds the Area 31 Racing Team found themselves starting 1 minute 50 seconds behind the first boat in the handicap stakes as the first race began.
Competing with the classic 500cc Konig powered Cabover hydroplane, team driver David once again lapped in the low fourty seconds as he began to carve his way through the field chasing leader Tony Knights in the 400cc Yamato outfit. As they started the last lap it was going to be a tight finish with David catching Tony quickly as the headed up the back straight. As they came out of the last corner it looked like Tony Knights in the 400cc Yamato outfit had done enough to take the win but David managed get a good run out of the final turn in the classic 500cc hydroplane and was able to take the victory on the line.
Despite pushing the 500c classic hydroplane outfit as hard as he could to take the first heat win on the line David and the Area 31 Racing Team were pushed back a further 10 seconds in the handicap for race two now starting 10 seconds behind Peter Rix in the more powerful 700cc Konny engine.
Race two although driving hard was more fortunate for David and the Area 31 Racing Team as Peter Rix was going well in the 700cc Konny powered hydroplane. Unable to make any significant progress on Peter, it looked like David would have to settle for a lower placed finish in race two. However with two laps to go Peter's hydroplane outfit stopped on the back straight at Oulton Broad as David once again set off trying to catch the Yamato powered crafts of Tony Knights, Joshua Wright, Rob Hales, Jason Freeman and the other 500cc classic outfit of Tracey McVeigh ahead of him.
Once again on the run into the line it was David who was able to overtake Tony Knights and Tracey McVeigh to take the teams second race win of the evening.
The final race of the evening saw the Area 31 Racing Team start at 2 minutes 2 seconds behind the first boat and with team driver David pushing the 500cc Classic hydroplane outfit to its maximum potential, it just proved to be a bridge to far as he had to settle for a second place finish behind Tony Knights who took the race win with the 400cc Yamato powered outfit.
With two first place finishes and a second place in the final race, driver David Jones was able to win the Alan Darby trophy for the Area 31 Racing Team with Tony Knights finishing second and new driver Jason Freeman finishing third.
