Sunday, August 05, 2007
Villwock loses twice to Theoret to set up Seafair finale
Seafair '07 has been ANYTHING but dull, that's for sure.
Heat 2-A saw only three of the five entries officially start, as MISS LAKERIDGE PAVING and MISS CONOVER INSURANCE failed to answer the starter's gun. Nate Brown in MISS RED DOT battled Greg Hopp in MIRAGEBOATS.COM for a few laps before Hopp pulled to a comfortable victory. RED DOT was second with Ken Muscatel in PROCRAFT WINDOWS in third.
2-B went down as the closest finish ever for unlimited hydroplanes as David Bryant in TODD HOSS MORTGAGE INVESTORS edged Steve David in OH BOY! OBERTO by only a few feet at the finish, a literal photo finish. What was amazing is that Bryant went from third, passing Jeff Bernard in FORMULABOATS.COM I, to first on the last lap - and he did it from the outside, no less! J. Michael Kelly brought MISS CAR PROS in fourth, with rookie Jimmy Shane in FORMULABOATS.COM II coming in fifth.
Jean Theoret needed to win heat 2-C for a crack at getting into the final. To do that, he was up against Dave Villwock in ELAM, Jimmy King in TODD HOSS-RONALD McDONALD HOUSE, and rookie Brian Perkins in THE PLUMBING JOINT. Theoret made it count by snagging the inside lane and making a picture perfect start and took the lead out of the first turn. Despite a strong run by ELAM, Theoret and BEACON PLUMBING had too much cha-cha for this dance and won convincingly. ELAM was second, with PLUMBING JOINT third, and TODD HOSS II fourth after being penalized a one lap penalty for jumping the gun.
Heat 3-A saw Jeff Bernard win his second heat of the event, once again besting J. Michael Kelly, who finished second. Muscatel took third, with Greg Hopp fourth, Jimmy Shane trailed in fifth, and Nate Brown brought his craft home in sixth.
The drama was set for heat 3-B ... all the hot dogs were in this one. BEACON would do battle again with ELAM, plus throw in the OBERTO, TODD HOSS I and TODD HOSS II, and poor Brian Perkins in THE PLUMBING JOINT thrown in the midst. Both BEACON PLUMBING and OBERTO forced ELAM into lane 3 with TODD HOSS I in four. TODD HOSS II trailed slightly with THE PLUMBING JOINT a distant sixth at the start. Once again Theoret nailed the start from lane one and was never headed. ELAM never seemed to have the superior speed shown earlier in the season and took second. It was the second straight heat loss for Villwock, and only his third overall for the season. OBERTO was third, followed by TODD HOSS I fourth, TODD HOSS II in fifth, and THE PLUMBING JOINT sixth.
The qualifiers for the final are:
U-5 FORMULABOATS.COM I / Jeff Bernard
U-16 MISS ELLSTROM ELAM PLUS / Dave Villwock
U-6 OH BOY! OBERTO / Steve David
U-37 MISS BEACON PLUMBING / Jean Theoret
U-10 TODD HOSS MORTGAGE INVESTORS / David Bryant
U-13 MISS CAR PROS / J. Michael Kelly
U-25 MISS PROCRAFT WINDOWS / Ken Muscatel (won provisional)
