By Sports Reporter/Doha
Graham Trucking’s J Michael Kelly held off a fierce challenge from National High Points champion Jimmy Shane to snatch a dramatic win in a thrilling five-lap Oryx Cup UIM World Championship final in Doha Bay yesterday afternoon.
Kelly, from Bonney Lake in Washington State, stole the inside line in pre-race milling and managed to edge clear of the newly-crowned National High Points champion, Shane, over five high-octane fuelled laps of the Doha course. He maintained his composure throughout to reach the chequered flag and seal a second Oryx Cup win.
“The move worked out,” said a delighted Kelly, who completed a sweep of four heat wins and victory in the final. “The Oberto had a little bit more speed than we had and that early move into the inside helped us come away with the win. I missed out on the National High Points title to Jimmy but it’s a great feeling to win the race here in Doha.”
Jon Zimmerman rounded off the podium in the 9 Team Red Dot hydroplane, but 96 Spirit of Qatar’s Jean Theoret pulled out just as the race was about to start with fuel control issues.
J Michael Kelly had maintained his 100% heat success rate with a comfortable win over Shane in heat 3A and Cal Phipps benefited from steering issues on 96 Spirit of Qatar to propel 7 Graham Trucking II to victory in 3B.
A start-to-finish win for Shane in Heat 4A was sufficient for the Maryland driver to confirm the National High Points title regardless of Kelly’s performance in 4B or the Oryx Cup final. Kelly didn’t disappoint either and led from the start to secure the win in 4B.
The final round of the H1 Unlimited Championship has been organised by the Qatar Marine Sports Federation (QMSF), under the presidency of His Excellency Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor al-Thani and in conjunction with H1 Unlimited, since 2009.
Heat 3A
Shane and Kelly clashed for the first time in the opening heat of the day and were joined at the flying start by Zimmerman, Dave Warren and Jesse Robertson. Kelly made a perfect start and edged clear of Shane and began to pull away. The 1 Oberto Beef Jerky driver was not able to close Kelly down and the heat developed into a comfortable one for the 1 Graham Trucking driver.
A third heat win knocked another 100 points off his deficit in the National High Points title race, but he was still relying on Shane failing to finish one of the remaining two heats and the final if he was to stand a realistic chance of winning the championship. Zimmerman crossed the line in a comfortable third and Warren managed to pass Robertson on the penultimate lap to snatch fourth.
Heat 3B
Dave Villwock was not able to make the start of 3B after his turbine engine ingested water on Friday afternoon and this left the door open for Theoret, Phipps, Mike Webster and a struggling Tom Thompson to vie for top spot. Thompson took the start with damaged blades in his turbine and the Peters & May team was not expecting miracles from the 11 boat.
Theoret controlled the early stages of the race from the inside and looked to be heading for a comfortable heat win, but he powered down the boat and turned into the infield at the start of the final lap when the steering wheel detached from the shaft.
This left the door open for a pursuing Phipps to sail through to take the heat win, with a resurgent Thompson passing Webster on the second lap to snatch the runner-up spot and 300 valuable points.
Heat 4A
Victory or second place would have been sufficient for Shane to clinch the 2014 National High Points title and the 6 Oberto Beef Jerky driver made the perfect start using additional boat speed from lane two to pass Zimmerman on the outside. Shane was never troubled from then on and surged to the chequered flag to clinch the title with the Oryx Cup final in hand.
Zimmerman finished a comfortable second and Phipps, Thompson and Warren followed some way behind in third, fourth and fifth.
Heat 4B
Kelly made an excellent start and managed to hold off the Theoret challenge through the opening turns, although the Qatar driver had suffered a scare during he milling for lanes when his turbine bogged down and he had to fight back to gain his starting lane.
Kelly held on to take the chequered flag and a fourth haul of maximum points and Theoret finished well clear of Webster. Robertson pulled up at the end of the first lap and retired.
Oryx Cup
Kelly, Shane, Phipps, Theoret, Zimmerman and Thompson made the five-lap final, with Webster offered the role of trailer boat at the rear of the field.
Kelly got his tactics just right in the milling – ‘the race before the race’ – and stole the inside lane from Shane and maintained a slender lead through the first few turns.
Zimmermann slotted into third and Phipps headed Thompson and Webster, but fuel control issues had sidelined Theoret before the flying start. Shane was no match for the flying Kelly as the race progressed, however, and the 1 Graham Trucking driver thundered through the remaining laps to seal his second Oryx Cup success.
Shane held on to a comfortable second and Zimmerman headed Phipps, Thompson and Webster to the chequered flag as the sun began to set over Doha Bay.
J Michael Kelly (top centre) won his second Oryx Cup final in Doha yesterday. Jimmy Shane (left) was second, while Jon Zimmerman finished third.
