Saturday, Jul. 28, 2007

Formula, Mirage in the show; U-10, U-3 and U-21 improve times

By Jody Moore, hydro.commentator

After a busy first session Saturday, all three boats that hadn't qualified are in the show, both rookie drivers are nearing the end of their training period, and three teams improved their times.

Jeff Bernard led the charge of the previously unqualified, driving the U-5 Formulaboats.com to a lap of 157.695 to grab the No. 4 spot on the qualifying ladder. Greg Hopp drove the Mirageboats.com to a qualifying mark of 143.357 mph, while rookie Jimmy Shane drove a 141.482 lap in the U-1 Formulaboats.com II to get the boat into the show.

Shane, making his first start in an unlimited, needed 15 laps to qualify as an unlimited driver, with at least 10 over 130 mph. He drove 10 in the first session, all over the limit, so he needs only five laps at any speed to qualify.

Similarly, Brian Perkins put in 10 laps in the U-21 Meyers Auto Tech, with six over the 130 limit. So he will need five in the afternoon session, with four over the 130 limit.

Perkins did improve the U-21's qualifying time to 140.862 mph, 13th among the 13 boats that will race today and tomorrow. Also improving was David Bryant and Jimmy King. Bryant upped the U-10 Hoss Mortgage Investors time to 156.052, while King improved the U-3 to 155.215 mph in the Hoss Mortgage / Ronald McDonald House.

One other boat is in the pits, and that is the U-17 Miss Red Dot. That boat arrived early this morning but is still not complete. This is a brand new boat from a brand new team, and construction is ongoing here in the pits. The boat isn't likely to even see water this weekend.

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