Oulton Broad Club Meeting: Gala Day 31/08/09
Date added: 05/09/09
On a warm bank holiday afternoon at Oulton Broad, the Area 31 Racing Team went nostalgic for the day and competed with the 1964 500cc Crescent powered classic hydroplane outfit for the first time this season.
Having stripped down and rebuilt the 1964 500cc Crescent engine the Area 31 Racing Team were looking forward to seeing how well the classic hydroplane outfit would perform.
The first race saw team driver David Jones start 50 seconds behind the first boat of Jason Feeman who was driving a 400cc Yamato powered outfit, and also behind Tony Knights, Rob Hales, James Marr and Mike Pacey who were also competing with 400cc Yamato powered outfits.
It may not have been as spectacular and extravagant as seeing David flying past the park front with the 1973 500cc Konig powered Cabover he had raced for most of the season but it was a chance for the older members to relive memories of years gone by as it was a similar outfit to what both David and his father raced during the late 1960's and early 1970's.
as the first race progressed, David began to make his way through the field passing Rob Hales, and then Tony Knights. As he approached the penultimate lap David was chasing down Mike Pacey to move into third position when at the famous Wherry turn the engine stopped suddenly. On inspection back at the pits there seemed to be no serious damage to the engine and the team prepared for race two.
The second race once again saw David start 50 seconds after the first boat but this time the 1964 500cc Crescent engine kept motoring all the way to the checkered flag as David took third place overall behind James Marr and Jason Freeman.
Preparing for the third an final heat, mechanics Andy, Steve and Phil noticed that the Engine was still extremely hot after the second race so the team decided not to risk ruining the 1964 500cc Crescent engine and unfortunately retired from the final heat.
The team were very happy overall with the performance of the classic restoration and hope to have the Crescent powered hydroplane out again for the final event of the club racing season, The Mick Pentney Memorial Trophy which takes place on the 13th September.
The team have also added a 2009 photo gallery to the website and 2009 video footage of the 1964 500cc Crescent hydroplane in action. Either visit the multimedia section of the site or click on the links below.
- 2009 Area 31 Racing photographs
- 2009 Area 31 Racing video footage of the restored 1964 500cc Crescent powered Schultze hydroplane
