Jon Zimmerman represented the Spirit of Qatar Team at the Madison Regatta.
Agencies/Madison, USA
Jon Zimmerman finished second overall in the Indiana Governor’s Cup at the Madison Regatta, round one of the 2014 H1 Unlimited Championship, on the Ohio River on Sunday.
Jimmy Shane topped qualifying and won all three of his preliminary heats at the helm of 6 Oberto/Miss Madison, but he fell short in the final of the Indiana Governor’s Cup. Shane started well in that final and looked set to seal a clean sweep of the weekend’s honours until a video replay of the start determined that he had jumped the gun and that tiny mistake cost him the win and dropped him back to fourth place behind eventual winner J Michael Kelly in 1 Graham Trucking, Zimmerman and Cal Phipps.
First blood in the first of Sunday’s heats went to J Michael Kelly and Jimmy Shane in heats 1A and 1B, with Zimmerman shadowing Shane to the finish of the second of the heats. Shane repeated his success in heat 2A to add another 400 points to his tally. J Michael Kelly won heat 2B, but Zimmerman slipped to third position behind Jamie Nilsen in heat 2B.
Nilsen set an impressive pace in heat 3A to take the spoils and pip Phipps and Greg Hopp and Shane continued his winning ways in heat 3B to edge the win from Zimmerman in Spirit of Qatar. Neither Kelly nor Mike Webster started the heat.
Jimmy Shane topped the times in the qualifying stint on Saturday, the 1 Oberto driver recording a fastest speed of 148.692mph on his third lap in the first of the sessions. Spirit of Qatar’s new recruit Zimmerman was an impressive second quickest with a speed of 146.520mph and was handed the outright runner-up points after J. Michael Kelly – who had equalled Zimmerman’s time – lost his speed because of an N2 violation. He qualified for racing and was assigned a speed of 130mph, but the decision was later overturned and Kelly regained his points for qualifying equal second.
Tom Thompson was fourth in 11 Miss Peters & May and Cal Phipps was fifth in 7 Graham Trucking. Mike Webster suffered engine problems with the 22 Webster Racing boat and, like Greg Hopp’s 12 Miss DiJulio, he was permitted to race in Sunday’s heats.
The second round of the 2014 H1 Unlimited Championship is this weekend’s APBA Detroit Gold Cup on the Detroit River on July 11-13, where the Qatar Marine Sports Federation (QMSF), in conjunction with Ellstrom Racing, hope to give Kip Brown is season debut at the helm of 96 Spirit of Qatar.
H1 Unlimited Standings:
1. 6 Oberto/Miss Madison; Jimmy Shane 1869 pts; 2. 1 Graham Trucking; J. Michael Kelly 1280 pts; 3. Red Dot/Spirit of Qatar; Jon Zimmerman 1205 pts; 4. 7 Graham Trucking; Cal Phipps 1015 pts; 5. Go Fast Turn Left Racing; Jamie Nilsen 975 pts
