San Diego Bayfair 2013 , Unlimiteds Information and Photos

[Ratickle]

Well, made it out here. Good and bad news.

Good, Steve David was the number one qualifier today.

Bad, Steve David announced yesterday this would be his last race. Full-blown retirement from Unlimited Hydro Racing. I tried to talk him into offshore racing again, but he says his wife says never again. We'll have to work on her I guess.....

Well, I'll try to keep you informed..

[Ratickle]

[Ratickle]

[Ratickle]

Talked with Mark Evans. They had a tough one, blew the gearbox to smithereens and the boat started to sink. Their spare is back up north, so they are done for the weekend. Tough break.

[Ratickle]

SAN DIEGO - The 49th annual San Diego Bayfair unlimited hydroplane races are scheduled to get underway Friday on Mission Bay.

Friday is reserved for the teams to prepare and to make training and qualifying runs. The event is set to culminate Sunday in an expected duel between Steve David and Jimmy Shane for the national points championship of this racing season. David is looking for his seventh title in eight years.

The best finisher between the two this weekend will be the season winner. The 2 1/2-mile finale is set for Sunday afternoon.

"We are very fortunate to have the finest hydroplane racing in the world today back in San Diego," said Jeff Thomas, Bayfair chairman. "Our loyal fans deserve the best powerboat racing we can draw, and we've done that."

The races are based on Vacation Island, but viewing is also available at Ski Beach, Crown Point Shores and Fiesta Island. The event will also include musical entertainment at East Vacation Island, and a motocross exhibition.

For more information about this weekend's events, visit San Diego Bayfair.

[Ratickle]

Saturday, September 14, 2013
San Diego Bayfair Events Schedule


7:30-8:00 am Heat H1 & Final A Stock Hydro, C Stock Hydro (Ski Beach)
8:00-8:30 am SST-45 Testing (Ski Beach)
8:30-9:30 am Super Stock/Pro Stock (Ski Beach)
9:30-10:00 am Grand Prix West Testing 3 (Bill Muncey Course)
10-11:00 am H1 Unlimited Testing (Bill Muncey Course)
11-11:20 am Grand Prix West Heat A (Bill Muncey Course)
11:20-11:40 am Grand Prix West Heat B (Bill Muncey Course)
11:40-12:10 pm SST-45 Qualifier 1 (Ski Beach)
12:10-1:00 pm A & C Stock Hydro, Super/Pro Stock Heat 1 (Ski Beach)
1:00-1:40 pm H1 Unlimited Testing (Bill Muncey Course)
2:30-3:10 pm SST-45 Qualifier 1 (Ski Beach)
3:50-4:10 pm Grand Prix West Final (Bill Muncey Course)
4:10-4:40 pm H1 Unlimited Heat 1A presented by Chobani (Bill Muncey Course)
4:40-5:00 pm H1 Unlimited Heat 1B presented by Chobani (Bill Muncey Course)

[phragle]

Go to Robertos and get a carne asada burrito or carne asada fries. There is one by across the street from the rollercoaster in mission beach. Where are you staying??

[Ratickle]

Staying at Paradise Point resort. Nice place, it's the host for bay fair. Have a really nice bungalow right on the bay.

[Ratickle]

Steve just won his heat. He's still 63 points ahead but Jimmy Shane may faulter in his heat.

[Ratickle]

Well, Jimmy did not falter. Got lane one and led start to finish. Still only 63 points separation between Steve and Jimmy.

[Ratickle]

Now here's a sequence during practice that had to make Tom's arse pucker a bit......

[Ratickle]

He's giving a special thanks to the front wing......

[Ratickle]

Wow, what a day.

Jimmy and Steve were matched up in the first heat. Heck of a job by both to try for the inside, Steve got it barely. He won the heat putting him ahead in the championship by 163 points. A bit of breathing room. Then they both won their respective heats in round 3. So, into the final, cat and mouse for the inside lane, Steve got it again. Led start to finish with Jimmy on his hip about a roostertail back. Then they said Steve was over on the start moving him to last place. Steve said jimmy was a half boat-length ahead of him on the start, but that gave the Bayfair win to Jimmy and the overall points season championship to Jimmy.

Until the teams review the tapes I'm pretty sure it's not over, we'll see how it progresses. Meanwhile, I'll get some more pics up. Some really good racing.

[Ratickle]

[Ratickle]

[Ratickle]

[Ratickle]

SAN DIEGO - The 49th annual San Diego Bayfair came to an end in dramatic fashion on Sunday.

The entire unlimited hydroplane season came down to one race. Longtime champion Steve David – who is retiring Sunday – took the lead his final race of a 45-year run. He started three-tenths of a second early. While he led the entire race, it was the 27-year-old up-and-comer, Jimmy Shane, who took the title.

David seemed to handle the defeat graciously. He said he was excited because those few minutes were for all the marbles.

"It's much more like an airplane than it is a boat nowadays," said Shane. "You're actually flying the boat on a cushion of air six to 12 inches off the water.

That is because it is the same type of turbo engine used to power the military's heavy-lift Chinook helicopter.

Shane is new to his cockpit. It is only his second year in the circuit. He skyrocketed to a lead spot – coming in second last year – right behind David.

"There's nothing on land that compares to it, and I would not recommend this, but if you got in your dryer at high speed, it'd be just like that," David told 10News.

David started racing at age 15. He has landed a lot of titles, but he has also broken a lot of bones.

"Knee, ribs, toe, neck, lower back, teeth," he said. "

San Diego Bayfair officials say the 2.5-mile oval course is the fastest in the world. It is part of the draw for nearly 100,000 people expected to turn out over the course of the three-day event.

The event started in 1964, a few years before David jumped on board.

"It's funny. I've known Jimmy when he was in his mommy's belly. His mom and dad were good friends of mine. Jimmy is a good friend of mine, and I can't imagine a finer gentleman to really take over when I'm out of here," said David.

Shane did not seem to share David's humble nature, and he was not shy about trying to steal the thunder from his family friend.

"I would love nothing more than to kind of swoop down and steal a little bit of his swan song that he's got going on leaving this sport," he said.

San Diego Bayfair is a nonprofit event put on by volunteers. Money made funds the next event, and anything above and beyond goes back into the bay. That means a bigger turnout could be a better Mission Bay.

10News - 49th annual San Diego Bayfair ends - 10News.com - News

[Ratickle]

Steve David jumped the gun. By only a 30th of a second, too.

Yet that’s all it took to turn the Oh Boy! Oberto driver’s weekend into an Oh No! finish to his celebrated career.

Closing in on a perfect meet at San Diego Bayfair, David’s running start in the H1 Unlimited final crossed the start line too soon, costing him both a penalty lap in the final race and the national points championship despite having the fastest boat in the water at Mission Bay all weekend.

Instead, the 59-year-old reigning national champ settled for fourth place when second would have been good enough to hold off winner Jimmy Shane, who edged David by 68 points to win the first national titles for both himself and the Graham Trucking hydroplane.

“It’s just fitting,” David said after reviewing still frames of his start. “I’ve got to laugh about it because it’s the difference of eh-eh on the pedal. A 30th of a second if you think about it. … When it’s my error and not a boat problem I can live with that. We had the fastest boat here.”

Right from the start, too.

David posted the top qualifying run Friday, won every heat leading up to the final and then led Shane by several boat lengths when race officials sent word over the airwaves that their review of the start revealed that about three feet of the Oh Boy! Oberto boat was over the line at the start of the race.

The announcement sent an uproar through the crowd on the shores and turned both the race and the national standings race upside down.

Instead of cruising toward his seventh national driver title and fifth boat title for Oh Boy! Oberto, David was docked a lap that he completed as Shane floated into the docks with his third straight win to close the season.

The second-year driver pumped his fist while standing on his hull as his team greeted him with cheers. The H1 Unlimited series will need a new face to rally behind as David hangs up his helmet. Shane, 27, might very well be it after spoiling the icon’s retirement party this weekend.

Shane wasn’t sorry about it in the least, either, after balking at David’s pre-race leapfrog toward the inside lane sent the Graham Trucking hull into the air as he crossed through the wake.

“I did (spoil his weekend) — and at the same time he pulled a move on us coming down the front and pretty much almost took us out before the race,” Shane said. “The boat was almost standing up on end when I went through his rooster tail. … He only had three boat lengths and he still came over. He needs five lengths to do that. I was lucky to bring it back down.”

David, however, said he had more than enough room to win the pre-race jockeying for the shortest route around the 2½-mile Bill Muncey Memorial Course.

“We knew we were good,” David said. “I’ve got spotters all over the race course.”

The Oh Boy! Oberto boat edged Shane in qualifying — 161.571 mph to 160.895 — and his 174.188-second finish during a three-lap heat to start the day was more than 3 seconds faster than Graham Trucking’s showing.

That didn’t matter much in the final when Shane — trailing by several boat lengths — learned during the fourth lap that he was leading a race that he won in 308.734, well ahead of second-place Tommy Thompson (339.219).

SPLIT SECOND COSTLY AT BAYFAIR | UTSanDiego.com

[phragle]

But did you get a burrito??

[Ratickle]

Not this trip. Terri is still not feeling very good at all. She made less than half the races, and then we only spent a half day at the zoo. The two restaurants at Paradise Point were pretty good though.