SPIRIT OF DETROIT HYDROFEST 2018

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2018 Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers Hydrofest

Event Date: August 24-26 2018

Tenative Schedule

Monday-Wednesday Event Set up

Thursday August 23 Press Day
1:30-3:30 Rescue Practice

Friday August 24
9:00-9:30 H1 Unlimited Drivers Meeting Pit Tower
10:00-10:30 Class drivers meeting Piston Park
10:30-11:00 GP drivers meeting Piston park
11:00 AM Legends Gathering Sinbads
1:00-2:00 H1 Unlimited testing
2:00-2:20 Vintage Unlimited
2:25-2:45 Vintage Inboard
3:00-4:00 H1 Unlimited testing
4:00-4;20 Vintage Unlimited
4:30-4:45 GP testing
5:00-7:00 H1 Unlimited Qualifying-APBA Gold Cup

Saturday August 25
7:00-7:45 Drivers Physicals
7:45-8:15 H1 Unlimited Drivers meeting
8;30-9:30 H1 Unlimited testing
9-9:30 GP Drivers Meeting Piston Park
9:30-9:50 Vintage Drivers Meeting Piston Park
10:00-10:30 GP testing
10:45-11:00 Vintage Unlimited
11:00-11:15 Vintage Inboard
11:20-12:20 Lunch/Unlimited Autograph
12:00-12:15 Opening Ceremonies
12:20-12:30 Vintage Unlimited Diving School
12:45-1:00 GP 1A
1:00-1:15 GP 1B
1:30-145 GP 1C
2:00-2:15 H1 Unlimited 1A
2:15-2:30 H1 Unlimited 1B
2:30-2:45 Vintage Inboard
2:45-3:00 Vintage Unlimited
3:00-3:15 GP 2A
3:15-3:30 GP 2B
3:30-4:00 GP 2C
4:10-4:20 H1 Unlimited 2A
4:25-4:40 H1 Unlimited 2B

Sunday August 26
7:30-8:30 Drivers Physicals
8:30-9:30 H1 Unlimited testing
9:30-10:00 Vintage Inboard Drivers Meeting
10:00-10:30 GP Drivers Meeting
10:50-11:05 Vintage Unlimited
11:10-11:30 Vintage Inboard
11:30-12:30 Lunch/Autograph session
12:00-12:15 Opening Ceremonies
12:45-1:00 H1 Unlimited 3A
1:00-1:15 H1 Unlimited 3B
1:25-1:40 GP 3A
1:40-1:55 GP 3B
1:55-2:10 GP 3C
2:15-2:30 H1 Unlimited 4A
2:30-2:45 H1 Unlimited 4B
3::00-3:15 GP Consolation
3:25-3:40 Vintage Inboard
3:45-3:55 Vintage Unlimited
4:15-4:25 GP Final
4:40:-4:55 H1 Unlimited APBA Gold Cup Final

 

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Unlimited Teams

https://www.h1unlimited.com/2018-teams/

 

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Andrew Tate 'carrying a tradition' in quest for Gold Cup

Andrew Tate is up to speed in more ways than one.

The H1 Unlimited Hydroplane points leader, Tate has won three of four races this season in the U-9 Delta/Realtrac boat as the series heads for the Detroit River and the run for the prestigious Gold Cup.

What’s more, the 29-year-old Walled Lake native is a student of the sport who first attended a Gold Cup race before he was old enough to appreciate its meaning but now is engaged with the significance of a Detroit-area driver racing for a team with Seattle-area ownership.

The son of a two-time Gold Cup champion, Tate doesn’t need to be told that, about 60 years ago, Detroit and Seattle waged racing war, that the livery of a Gold Cup champion one year determined the site of the race the next, and that Motown and the Emerald City went deck to deck in a bitter, Yankees-Red Sox kind of rivalry.

“I’d like to think I’m representing the entire city when I’m out there,” Tate said. “I feel as though I’m carrying a tradition in Detroit that’s very great.

“I feel a need to do well for the city of Detroit.”

Tate, whose father, Mark, won Gold Cup championships in 1991 in the Winston Eagle and in 1994 in the Smokin’ Joe’s, doesn’t remember the first time he attended the event on the Detroit River. Nor can he recall details of what happened on the water that weekend.

“I was more interested in climbing the rock wall and spending time with other drivers’ kids,” he said.

But that was then.

About to enter a third Gold Cup in as many years as the driver for Enumclaw, Wash.-based Jones Racing, and this time among the favorites, Tate attaches a personal significance to the trophy.

“Since Detroit is Hockeytown,” said the man who once aspired to make his living playing hockey, “I will say the Gold Cup is the Stanley Cup of boat racing.”

Tate started skating when he was 2 years old. He grew into an accomplished forward who played for a Little Caesars team out of Joe Louis Arena and envisioned toiling on NHL ice like his heroes, former Red Wings stars Dino Ciccarelli, Steve Yzerman, Nicklas Lidstrom and Pavel Datsyuk.

Tate was especially taken by Datsyuk, the Russian forward who had 918 points in 953 games during 14 seasons with the Wings.

“He wasn’t the fastest skater on the ice,” Tate said, “but he always seemed to be the smartest.”

Tate never forgot that being the “smartest” lifted Datsyuk, even after his hockey aspirations gave way to a career in boat racing.

“It’s just like any other professional sport,” he said. “There’s pressure from owners, sponsors, friends and family. You can’t let that get to you. You have to be smart, in and out of the boat.

“Racing is hard to describe in words. Things happen in a split second. Planning what the boat is going to do is as important as getting from point A to point B.”

Gold Cup testing and qualifying for the six boats that have entered the Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers Hydrofest will be Friday on the course that’s east of the Belle Isle Bridge.

Heat races will be Saturday. On Sunday, more heats precede the Gold Cup final.

Jimmy Shane, driver of the U-1 Miss HomeStreet, is the defending Gold Cup champion. Shane and the U-1 team raced a new boat at Seattle earlier this month, and Shane is second in points.

“He’s definitely someone I look out for,” Tate said.

Tate won races at Guntersville, Ala.; Kennewick, Wash., and Seattle. He was the fastest qualifier at Guntersville and Madison, Ind.

Shane won at Madison. His team, owned by the citizens of that southern Indiana city, has competed in every Gold Cup since 1961, winning four times, including 2014 and 2015.

Tate finished second to Shane in the 2017 Gold Cup final and sixth in 2016 when J. Michael Kelly won.

This will be the 54th time the Gold Cup has been contested on the Detroit River, which first hosted the race in 1916.

“There’s a lot of history and prestige involved,” Tate said. "We have a very fast boat. We have high expectations."

Go online to detroitboatraces.com for more event information.

 

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Andrew Tate, Jimmy Shane lead unlimited hydroplane fleet to Detroit River

The quest for the APBA Gold Cup begins with testing and qualifying Friday on the Detroit River. Heat races will be Saturday, and more heats and the final will be Sunday in the Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers Hydrofest.

Here is a look at the six boats and drivers the H1 Unlimited Hydroplane Racing Series said have entered the chase for the most prestigious trophy in the sport:

U-1 Jimmy Shane
The defending Gold Cup champion, Shane is second in points to Andrew Tate (U-9) in the Miss HomeStreet. Shane and the U-1 team unleashed a new boat in the race at Seattle. Shane is among eight drivers who have won at least three Gold Cup championships. He also won in 2014 and 2015, and he set the Detroit River course qualifying record of 162.613 mph in 2014.

U-3 Jimmy King
Veteran competitor King drives the only piston-powered boat in the fleet, The Roostertail, which has a World War II-era aircraft engine. King is from Wales, Mich., and drives for Go3 Racing and owner Ed Cooper, who’s based in Evansville, Ind. Detroit will mark King’s second appearance of the season. He also ran at Tri-Cities. King finished third in the 2017 Gold Cup final.

U-7 Bert Henderson
Henderson, of Brockville, Ontario, drives the Spirit of Detroit, which crashed during the 2017 Gold Cup final in Detroit a day after taking fourth in the President’s Cup. Henderson will make his season debut on the Detroit River. Detroiter and U.S. Air Force veteran Dave Bartush owns the boat.

U-9 Andrew Tate
Walled Lake native Tate is the National High Points leader (6,785) with three race victories for Jones Racing. The driver of the Delta/Realtrac boat hopes to add a first Gold Cup championship to a season haul that includes wins at Guntersville, Ala., Kennewick, Wash., and Seattle. Tate finished second in the 2017 Gold Cup final.

U-11 Tom Thompson
Thompson is third in points (3,971) in the Reliable Diamond Tool presents J&D’s boat. One of four drivers – Shane, Tate and Dustin Echols are the others -- to participate in all four races this season, Thompson has two third-place finishes. His best showing was at Madison, where he scored 1,220 points. Scott and Shannon Raney of Edmonds, Wash., own the boat.

U-440 Dustin Echols
Echols, driver of the Bucket List Racing entry, hails from Sultan, Wash., and is sixth in points. He was third in points at Madison. The 2017 H1 Unlimited Rookie of the Year, Echols competed in every race and made two finals a year ago in the boat owned by Kelly and Sharon Stocklin. A diesel and heavy-equipment mechanic, Echols also operates his business, Mac Truck Repair.

https://www.macombdaily.com/sports/...cle_62d5e0ec-a6f0-11e8-b193-d7cec49a7449.html

 

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Updates:

The wind was too bad today for the heats scheduled. All heats are scheduled to be run tomorrow. So, the first heat race will be at 9:00 AM. Practice opens tomorrow at 7:10 AM. Racing will be very busy all day.

Be there!!

 

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Flyin it flat at 180+

 

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And, not so flat.

 

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This lap had me concerned.....

 

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How long is that roostertail?

 

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