Bob Trask arrived at the Port Macquarie round of the Australian F1 Superboat series with his latest weapon, a fresh new GTR Formula 1 race boat.
With little fanfare Bob Trask settled himself into the cockpit and promptly took both pole position and the first heat of the race weekend, clocking up a qualifying lap speed some two tenths of a second faster than brother David Trask.
“In all of our pre-event testing, we knew that my new hull was quick,” Bob Trask said after taking pole position. “But now we know that the new GTR hull is very much the real deal.”
Brother and fellow GTR/Trask Development Corporation team member David Trask readily admitted that Bob’s new design is a winner … and then promptly ordered a fresh hull for himself to race on the UIM World F1 Championship.
At Port Macquarie Bob Trask blasted off the start dock to lead brother David Trask and the remainder of the Formula 1 field, into the first turn by three boat lengths.
“All season long David has had the edge on speed, but the new hull is a faster rig both off the dock and in straightaway speed,” Bob Trask said.
There have been very subtle changes made to the design, both in the aerodynamics of the hull and the way that it has been balanced.
“I don’t want to give too much away to our rivals overseas, but the changes that I have made to the GTR design are subtle yet profoundly effective.”
Over the duration of the 15 lap event at Port Macquarie, Bob Trask took a commanding lead. In the early stages however, David Trask powered up the inside running into a turn, actually riding up over the top of brother Bob’s deck and smashing into the cell.
While the impact failed to slow Bob Trask, it did cause the port sponson on Bob’s #19 boat to split slightly along the chine line.
With pole position and a clear victory in the first Formula 1 heat, Bob Trask had confirmed his thoughts coming into this round.
“The split is relatively minor and a very simple repair job,” Bob Trask said. “Rather than risk making a small job into a major task, we decided to retire for the weekend and sit the rest of the day out on the bank.”
“This boat is due to be shipped shortly for the next round of the UIM World Formula 1 Series in China, so we didn’t want to risk further damage.”
This left David Trask free to take on the two remaining heats at Port Macquarie and fly both the GTR/Trask Development Corporation team and family flag.
Although battling a troublesome virus, David Trask assumed pole position in both heats and blasted his way to a hard charging victory in both.
“We set our sights to lap the entire field in the third and final heat of the day,” David Trask said. “We learn a lot from hard racing, so to go out and lap every boat in a 15 lap event is quite a challenge.”
In the third heat David Trask not only pipped second placegetter Rhys Coles on the finish line, but telemetry downloaded after the race indicated that David was experiencing 7.5 G’s in the corners.
The third Trask member of the GTR/Trask Development Corporation team, Grant, experienced a fine day on the water too. Racing in the Formula 2000 class, Grant enjoyed a first and two second placing in his class over the weekend.
“I’m really enjoying the move up to Formula 2000,” Grant said. “It was great today to have a race on our own, but also get to race in with the F1 drivers; it’s all a part of learning top becomes a better driver.”
The next round of the Australian F1 Superboat series is scheduled for Queensland’s Gold Coast on August 26th 2007, and the next round of the UIM World F1 Championship will be held at Xian in China on October 5th 2007. |
