Technical problems end podium hopes of Steven Bridges and David Selley
Steven Bridges and David Selley were left to ponder what might have been after technical issues ruined their debuts at the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri last weekend.
The local professional powerboat racers were thick in the hunt for a second podium finish in the Super Stock class at the P1 Offshore event on Saturday before encountering electrical problems with less than two laps to go.
However, despite the major setback, throttle man Bridges and pilot Selley managed to soldier on in their 32-foot twin-engined catamaran and salvage a sixth-place finish among the thirteen-boat racing fleet.
“This was our first time racing in fresh water/lake conditions” Bridges told The Royal Gazette.
“The boat reacts differently in fresh water so we did about an hour of testing on Friday to get a feel for how the boat reacts to the conditions and that went well with no issues.
“On Saturday we started in the middle of the pack of a fleet of thirteen boats with one boat dropping out at the start.
“We came out of the first turns in fifth but quickly worked our way to running a solid third place for the majority of the race.
“Then with a lap and a half to go we lost power on the port motor and struggled to maintain our speed and lost positions, being passed by a few boats to end up finishing sixth.
“Overall it was a good weekend with the way the boat ran, but we need to be more consistent to get better finishes.”
It proved to be a case of déjà vu for Bridges and Selley at the weekend after encountering similar problems in their previous outing at Thunder on Cocoa Beach offshore races in Cape Canaveral, Florida, where they finished fourth.
“It seems to be the same issue we had in the Cocoa Beach race that we thought was fixed, so we obviously need to look into it again before the next race, Bridges added.
The team of Chris Hopgood and Jay Muller claimed class honours at the Lake of the Ozarks event with fellow Americans Reese Langheim and Julian Maldonado and Aj Bogino and Peter Bogino taking second and third to round off the podium finishers.
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