Brisbane based F1 driver Bob Trask may have endured another weekend of frustration at the final round of the Australian F1 Superboat series, but the Trask Development Corporation/Sea Quest team powered away from the weekend’s racing at Penrith (Sydney) with plenty to boast about.
For the first time in Australian powerboat history the Trask Development Corporation/Sea Quest team arrived with a four boat GTR race boat team; Bob and David Trask each in a Formula 1 boat, a brand new Formula 2 hull with Tim Bollins at the wheel and Grant Trask (Bob’s son) racing for the Formula 3 crown.
In qualifying, Bob Trask competed well running hard and fast on the hot lap to take pole position number 3. Brother David Trask was in second and pole sitter Craig Bailey with less than 0.50 of a second separating the three.
In spite of a great start with a hard charging run to the first turn, Bob Trask’s race was over quickly when trim problems surfaced on the opening laps.
“The up trim was working fine,” Bob lamented after the race. “The main problem was the down trim which worked only intermittently. Sometimes I hit the in button and the engine trimmed under fine, mostly though it failed to respond.”
“Racing without in trim is just too dangerous in the turns, so while we were fast down the straights, I had to back off and coast through the turns.”
And that was the story of the Trask Development Corporation/Sea Quest race team all day. In spite of switching gear around and replacing as many components as possible, the pesky trim system dogged Bob Trask throughout all three heats of the Penrith round.
“Personally it was a disappointing note to close out the Australia F1 Superboat series. But the success of the Trask Development Corporation/Sea Quest team on the day was just outstanding.”
David Trask racing the #18 Trask Development Corporation/Sea Quest boat won all three F1 heats at Penrith. The Trask Development Corporation/Sea Quest team boat was clearly the fastest all day long, running the same race engine and prop combination from qualifying all the way through to the chequered flag at the end of the third heat.
The new Formula 2 boat from GTR Race Boats arrived as a revelation. Drawing heavily on the race winning F1 hull design as used by the Trask Development Corporation/Sea Quest team, Bob Trask designed some key modifications into the new hull. Running a slightly shorter waterline length and with some weight moved aft, the Mercury SST120 powered boat was impressive all day long with Tim Bollins at the wheel.
“My son Grant will be stepping up from F3 to F2 next season and this is the boat that he will be campaigning next season,” Bob Trask said. “Even with minimal set up time and testing prior to Penrith, this design in F2 trim has already been timed at 100 mph + speeds in a straight line.”
The past season may not have delivered the national championship to the Trask Development Corporation/Sea Quest team, but given the team’s commitment to the international UIM F1 World Series, two rounds in Australia were passed over.
“Our congratulations go to Rhys Coles on winning the Australian F1 Superboat series in a GTR F1 hull,” Bob Trask said.
“We will be back bigger and better next season with our Trask Development Corporation/Sea Quest team. There are two more rounds on the UIM F1 World series to compete in 2006 and then we can start planning for an all out assault in Australia and overseas in 2007.”
In spite of missing two rounds of the Australia F1 Superboat series due to commitments on the UIM F1 Word circuit, Bob and David Trask finished 5th and 4th respectively, overall in the Australian series.
The next race contested by the Trask Development Corporation/Sea Quest team will be the UIM F1 World series in the UAE on December 8th then December 15th. |
