SBI Key West Worlds Day 3: CR Racing, Marker 17, WHM, Wake Effects Take Titles
Written by Matt Trulio and Jason Johnson | speedonthewater.com
With Sunday’s double-points format, the Super Boat International Offshore World Championships in Key West, Fla., never fails to produce pleasant and unpleasant surprises. And in today’s third and final round of racing, there was plenty of fortune and misfortune to go around in the calmest conditions of the week.
Image from the third round of the SBI Key West Offshore World Championships Photo Credit: speedonthewater.com
Though they didn’t agree with the SBI verdict, Victory No. 33 teammates throttleman John Tomlinson and driver Salem Ali Aladidi accepted it. But what Tomlinson refused to accept was the points-based placement rankings prior to today’s race. To his dismay, he learned that Zabo and Lucas Oil—teams they had lapped earlier in the race on their way to an apparent win—were given full time for completing the race, despite that they stopped racing when the checkered flag flew for the Victory team.
“They still had one lap to finish,” Tomlinson said. “Zabo and Lucas Oil were a full lap behind us when the checkered flag came out. In mileage, they got scored for nine laps; for time, they got scored as if they completed 10 laps.
“The two-minute penalty should have put the Victory teams in second and third, not fourth and fifth,” he continued. “Why did we even bother lapping them?”
Valid or otherwise, Tomlinson’s point turned out to be moot. Unlimited-class points leaders Mike DeFrees and Jay Muller grabbed the lead early in Team CRC/Sunlight Supply 44-foot MTI catamaran powered by Mercury Racing 1650 engines, but eventually Rahm and Harris ran them down in Wake Effects, a 48-foot MTI cat also powered by Mercury Racing 1650s. As for the Victory teams, they chased hard—throttleman Steve Curtis and driver Elsa Mohamed Abdul Rahman rolled the No. 3 boat and exited without injury—but weren’t a factor.
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This article was originally posted on speedonthewater.com.
