Serious News
08-17-2016, 10:19 PM
Veteran Michigan powerboat driver Jimmy King is in a race against time to compete next weekend in the UAW-GM Spirit of Detroit HydroFest Gold Cup event on the Detroit River.
King's U-3 Go3 Racing Unlimited Hydroplane is currently stranded in Wyoming, near the Idaho border, where the truck which was transporting it from Seattle has broken down with engine problems.
Repairs to the hauler are underway and King, who lives in Memphis, near Port Huron, hopes the boat will arrive back at the team's race shop in Evansville, Ind., in the next few days so it can be prepped for Detroit on Aug. 26-28.
King's U-3 entry is powered by a dual turbo-charged Allison V-12 engine, the only such power plant in the H1 Unlimited Hydroplane fleet. The motors can be harder to work on than the Chinook helicopter turbine engines used by other Unlimited teams.
"We lost a motor in the truck and it's very frustrating," said King, who raced his boat in the Albert Lee Appliance Seafair Cup in Seattle on Aug. 7. "We are just hoping we can get the truck and boat back by the weekend to work on it."
King, who was penalized and dropped out of the Seattle final, won by Walled Lake's Andrew Tate, finished third in the second race of the 2016 H1 Unlimited Hydroplane circuit in Kennewick, Wash., July 31.
He and his team, owned by Ed Cooper, missed the season-opening race at Madison, Ind., over Fourth of July weekend because they were not happy with the race course and amount of debris floating down the Ohio River.
"We just couldn't take the chance of damaging the boat and engine," King said. "These Allison motors just can't be replaced overnight."
King, 55, returned to Unlimited Hydroplane racing in 2015 after a break of five years.
He wants badly to compete next weekend at the HydroFest, which features the running of the 2016 APBA Gold Cup, celebrating 100 years of the classic powerboat race in the Motor City.
"We just want to be there," King said. "We want to be on the Detroit River for the Gold Cup. We need some help. We are sort of stuck in limbo right now."
http://www.freep.com/story/sports/motor/2016/08/16/apba-gold-cup-jimmy-king-wyoming/88837704/
King's U-3 Go3 Racing Unlimited Hydroplane is currently stranded in Wyoming, near the Idaho border, where the truck which was transporting it from Seattle has broken down with engine problems.
Repairs to the hauler are underway and King, who lives in Memphis, near Port Huron, hopes the boat will arrive back at the team's race shop in Evansville, Ind., in the next few days so it can be prepped for Detroit on Aug. 26-28.
King's U-3 entry is powered by a dual turbo-charged Allison V-12 engine, the only such power plant in the H1 Unlimited Hydroplane fleet. The motors can be harder to work on than the Chinook helicopter turbine engines used by other Unlimited teams.
"We lost a motor in the truck and it's very frustrating," said King, who raced his boat in the Albert Lee Appliance Seafair Cup in Seattle on Aug. 7. "We are just hoping we can get the truck and boat back by the weekend to work on it."
King, who was penalized and dropped out of the Seattle final, won by Walled Lake's Andrew Tate, finished third in the second race of the 2016 H1 Unlimited Hydroplane circuit in Kennewick, Wash., July 31.
He and his team, owned by Ed Cooper, missed the season-opening race at Madison, Ind., over Fourth of July weekend because they were not happy with the race course and amount of debris floating down the Ohio River.
"We just couldn't take the chance of damaging the boat and engine," King said. "These Allison motors just can't be replaced overnight."
King, 55, returned to Unlimited Hydroplane racing in 2015 after a break of five years.
He wants badly to compete next weekend at the HydroFest, which features the running of the 2016 APBA Gold Cup, celebrating 100 years of the classic powerboat race in the Motor City.
"We just want to be there," King said. "We want to be on the Detroit River for the Gold Cup. We need some help. We are sort of stuck in limbo right now."
http://www.freep.com/story/sports/motor/2016/08/16/apba-gold-cup-jimmy-king-wyoming/88837704/