Thunderbird Racing said:
Heard Brian P was 9th or 10th and Richard W just after. however theres a lot of bun fighting with the Noggies protesting the Italians gearbox's and a protest against 4 boats for jumping the start. Apparently leaving the possiblity of voiding todays race.
Just got back from Italy, great weather but lots of arguments. Firstly the scrutineers wanted to DQ Richard, Roy and Martin concerning their gearboxes. It transpired the scrutineers could not understand the ruling clearly laid down in the UIM handbook concerning the modifications you can make to the water intake. It was eventually sorted out but obviously phased Richard somewhat as theirs seemed to be the only boat that the scrutineers virtually took to pieces before they ever got near the water!
First race was a farce as at least 6 boats (mostly Italian) were level with the start boat when the green flag was raised. The whole procedure was not in accordance with the UIM start so the commissioner declared the race void. Trophies were awarded to the first 3 (Italians) but no points.
Second race was better and got away cleanly. C61 Wrenkler went over and C2 (Richard White) stopped to render assistance. 6 boats then passed and were yellow carded. Richard was awarded 9th for stopping. Again first 3 were Italian cats, lead boat was out on his own.
3rd race was cancelled as it was deemed to be too rough to get out of the river! Also the helicopters refused to go up in the wind and rain and as they were carrying the divers, proceedings were halted. The UIM commissioner, after deliberation, decided that the World Championships would be decided on just the 2nd race and so the Italian cats went to have their boats and engines checked over.
There was a lot of muttering in the pits that certain Optimaxes had the chips changed in the ECU`s to make them rev more, something that the UIM commissioner was investigating, but I left before prizegiving cos I wanted to ensure I made the ferry back.
No doubt some of the other lads who are a bit more technical than myself will elaborate on proceedings but that is it in a nutshell.
The highest placed Brit on day one was Brian (Rhino), who finished 13th I think, with Richard right behind him. On day two it was Richard in 9th, with Bob Irwin next placed Brit. Chris Bryan blew his powerhead in race one and the compresser fell off Brian`s Opti in race 2. There were 30 boats in 2litre and 6 in 4ltr, so an amazing start!