Sunday, Jul. 29, 2007

Timing is everything

By Jeff Morrow, Herald sports editor

Dave Villwock says the biggest story of the year for unlimited hydroplanes has to be the number of drivers who are jumping the gun.

The driver of the U-16 Miss Elam Plus has watched opponent after opponent jump the starting line and get penalized an extra lap in so many races.

"It's caused a lot of points to be lost this season," Villwock said Saturday after the first day of racing at the Lamb Weston Columbia Cup.

It's also a big reason why Villwock is well ahead of the pack this season in the national high point standings. He's in first with 4,925 points, while runner-up Steve David is at 3,855.

Villwock won his heat, 1B, on Saturday, easily outracing the other drivers for another victory and 400 more points.

Racing action continues today with three heat races starting at 11 a.m., three more heat races starting at 12:50 p.m., and the final set for 4:40 p.m.

Villwock let Greg Hopp in the U-100 MirageBoats.com settle into Lane 1 and Ken Muscatel in the U-25 Superior Racing take Lane 2.

It didn't matter. Villwock came from the outside to overtake the field, and Hopp was penalized a lap for jumping the gun.

"I knew Hopp was going to be over the line when they were way down here with 2 minutes to go before the start. I knew they were in trouble," said Villwock. "I could tell Muscatel was going to be over too. But they said no he wasn't. I was surprised."

Rookie Brian Perkins, who qualified as a driver earlier in the day, finished second in the U-21 Meyers' Auto Tech.

Villwock watched more gun-jumping in Heat 1A, as David in the U-6 Oh Boy! Oberto and Jeff Bernard in the U-5 Formulaboats.com both hit the starting line too soon.

"I knew I was early," David said. "I was hoping I wasn't going to be over. I knew the 5, he was going to be over and we might be legal. But we weren't. It's my fault. I was probably a full half-second to full second over. You're not supposed to do that when you're a professional."

David's mistake allowed rookie driver David Bryant in the U-10 Hoss Mortgage Investors to collect his first career heat victory.

"I was going to be happy with second," said Bryant. "Then they told me on the radio Oberto jumped the gun. I was just running the race with Steve David on my hip figuring he was taking me somewhere."

J. Michael Kelly in the U-13 Spirit of Detroit was second.

For Villwock, the idea is to race smart, knowing when to make the right moves. Two years ago, when he won the Tri-Cities race, he showed the media charts he makes of the course in which he knows how much time he has until the start of the race wherever he is on the course.

"I still got 'em," Villwock said. "The idea is to stay out of trouble."

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