BLUE SHEETS RACING HOLD ON TO CHAMPIONSHIP LEAD
Saturday 3rd July saw sunshine and benign conditions in Leith Docks for the opening round of the Ocean Terminal Edinburgh Zapcat GP with a very fast and technical course that included a double M and a pit lap.
BladeRun and Who the Hell surprised their respective division rivals by winning all of their heats and they also went on to win their finals too. The division one final of round 5 was an extremely close run affair between BladeRun and Championship leaders Bluesheets I.
After their double gold haul in Belfast, Bluesheets II found themselves back in division one but were just beaten to a podium place by Speedy Hire who are proving very consistent again this year.
Other notable performances came from It’s All Greek to us! and Bluesheets III with Kate Evans co-piloting for the first time with her partner Nial Hoddinott.
The weather forecast for Sunday 4th July and round 6 of the championships was not looking good with squally showers and high winds predicted and for the thousands of people who had turned up to watch they were able to find very warm and dry vantage points inside the shopping complex and the multi-storey car park whilst leaving the officials, media crew, safety team and competitors to the elements!
The high winds blowing across the course made for some very interesting starts and a lot of corrective steering through the M’s whilst down the long back straight which was into the wind, meant the co-pilots had to ensure the Zapcats did not lift out of the water totally!
In division two a couple of early DQs for Who the Hell put them out of contention which left It’s All Greek to us! battling it out with SeaVacation I in a borrowed boat from SeaVacation II and Bluesheets III whilst in division one Bluesheets I were back on form and duelling with BladeRun, Speedy Hire, Team Suffolk and the Dangerous Brothers who were later to feature in one of the most spectacular crashes of the season.
Thanos and Andy in It’s All Greek to us! showed just how competitive and sporting Zapcat racing is when clearly in the lead in the final and the run to the chequered flag they slowed allowing Luke Wills and Rich Howe to pass them and take the win as a thank you for being able to race in their teammate’s boat. Luke and Rich later handed back the gold medals but kept hold of the extra 5 points! Two very sporting gestures particularly as Thanos and Andy are back in reach of the Rookie title too.
After all that excitement it was then onto the last race of the weekend the division one final and this was set for a duel between BladeRun and Bluesheets I and how and when the positive pit lap would come into play? Before that could take place there was one of the most spectacular 180 degree flips performed by Bluesheets II. Three Zapcats went into the turn and one came out the wrong way! The Dangerous Brothers and Nine Lives fortunately were unhurt and went on to restart the final whilst Dan received a DQ for a swim by Naomi, it was proven yet again that propeller guards and a very alert and highly qualified safety team allows this extreme sport to be as entertaining as it is.
The sequence of photos captured by local photographer Toby Williams shows how dramatic this crash was and all will be in the Edinburgh gallery.
Back to the restart and a nail biter of a race as BladeRun chased down Bluesheets I on every part of the 6 laps to almost a photo finish – Craig and Robbie picked up the round 6 win and were tied on points for the GP title but lost on count back of heat wins to Justin Whithorn and Chris Baldwin’s maiden Grand Prix victory, along with their medals and trophy they were presented with a weekend in Edinburgh by Ocean Terminal along with shopping vouchers and a couple of bottles of Scotland’s famous export.
BladeRun and Bluesheets now lead the Celtic Cup, the Dangerous Brothers have moved up to 6th place in the Nationals, It’s All Greek to us! are closing the gap for the Rookie title, Bluesheets have only a 30 point lead in the Team championship and the Mixed is down to 23 points.
Next event is in North Wales at Prestatyn a new venue for Zapcat Racing and that may also offer up some surprising results and is set to entertain as usual.
Thank you to Ocean Terminal and Forth Ports PLC for their continued support of the championships and we look forward to returning in July 2011.
Article and picture courtesy of Blue Sheets Racing.
