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European F:250 Championship
The European F:250 Championship is a four round series for the 250cc Outboard Hydroplanes and is open to all European drivers. Round 1 is in Boretto, Italy (11th - 12th May), Round 2 is in Roudnice nad Labem, Czech Republic (22nd - 23rd June), Round 3 is in Baja, Hungary (6th - 7th July) and Round 4 is in Bitterfeld, Germany (10th - 11th August).
Round 1 - Boretto, Italy (11th - 12th May)
At the first round of the UIM F:250 European Championship held in Boretto, Italy Wayne qualified in second position. He was fastest for most of qualifying but was beaten into second place by Lembit Aaslav-Kaasik (reigning World Champion) in the last few minutes of the session. Rene Behncke the reigning European Champion qualified in third. In the first race Wayne got a good start and followed Aaslav-Kaasik into the first turn. He continued to follow him closely for the whole race but was unable to pass him, Peter Bodor finished in third. In the second race Wayne again made a good start and followed Aaslav-Kaasik into the first turn, he again finished in second behind Aaslav-Kaasik despite hitting some debris in the water putting a hole in the side of the boat. David Loukotka finished third. In the third and final race the top three was again Aaslav-Kaasik first, Wayne second and Loukotka third. The overall win went to Lembit Aaslav-Kaasik with Wayne second and David Loukotka third.
Photos of the event can be found here.
Round 2 - Roudnice nad Labem, Czech Republic (22nd - 23rd June)
At the second round of the UIM F:250 European Championship held in Roudnice nad Labem, Czech Republic Wayne qualified in third position, with Rene Behncke fastest and Lembit Aaslav-Kaasik second. In the first race Wayne did not get the best of starts and as he was exiting the first turn he crossed through the wash of the boat ahead and the engine got swamped with water. The water entered the engine, bending one of the connecting rods, stopping the engine. David Loukotka won the race with Behncke second and Michal Kosut third. Wayne was able to borrow a crankshaft so he could repair his engine ready for race two. In race two Wayne got a good start despite starting at the back of the grid and exited the first turn in third place. He was closely following second place for the first half of the race but dropped back a little as the race progressed after he hit a small piece of wood that was floating down the river, bending the propeller. Behncke won the race with Aaslav-Kaasik finishing second. In the third and final race Wayne again got a good start and finished in third place, the win again went to Behncke with Aaslav-Kaasik second. With only finishing two races Wayne could only manage fourth place in the overall standings, the win went to Rene Behncke with David Loukotka second and Lembit Aaslav-Kaasik third. This result drops Wayne to third in the championship standings with two rounds remaining.
Photos of the event can be found here.
Round 3 - Baja, Hungary (6th - 7th July)
At the third round of the UIM F:250 European Championship held in Baja, Hungary Wayne qualified in a disappointing fourth place after suffering from engine problems. Pole position went to Lembit Aaslav-Kaasik, with Peter Bodor second. In the first race Wayne made a good start and was second after exiting the first turn. However the engine settings used for the race were too conservative (because of the problems encountered earlier in the day) and this resulted in a lack of straight line speed. This meant Wayne was unable to stop Aaslav-Kaasik passing him, but he was able to successfully defend his third place position to the end of the race. The win went to Bodor with Aaslav-Kaasik second. In morning warm-up Wayne found some different engine settings that gave him more straight line speed and so these were used for the second race. In the second race Wayne exited the first turn in third place and maintained this position during the race until Aaslav-Kaasik slowed because of a technical problem and he passed him to move into second place, which he maintained to the end of the race. The win again went to Bodor with David Loukotka third. The third and final race was cancelled because of very heavy rain and strong winds making it unsafe for racing. This meant Wayne finished second overall with Peter Bodor taking the win and Lembit Aaslav-Kassik third. This result moves Wayne up to second place in the championship, just three points off of the leader with one round remaining.
Photos of the event can be found here.
Round 4 - Bitterfeld, Germany (10th - 11th August)
At the fourth and final round of the UIM F:250 European Championship held in Bitterfeld, Germany Wayne need to win the event to guarantee championship victory. However Wayne did not post a time in the first qualifying session as he was suffering from problems with engine setup. Changes were made for the second qualifying session (which was delayed because of bad weather) and on his first flying lap he posted the fastest lap time to take pole position. He then changed some settings and went out to see if he could better his own time. He was not able to improve on his own pole time but as he returned to the jetty the crankshaft broke. This meant the engine had to be quickly rebuilt ready for the first race. The engine was rebuilt but the race was postponed until the following day because of the delays caused earlier by the bad weather. The start of the second day was also delayed, again by strong winds. This meant that the morning practice session was cancelled, but the drivers were given one lap immediately prior to the race start to check everything was ok. The engine performed well on the warm-up lap so Wayne was ready for the race. He got an exceptional start and had a healthy gap back to second place as he excited the first turn. Wayne continued to extend his lead throughout the race and took a comfortable win. Peter Bodor finished second with David Loukotka third. The second and third heat races were cancelled because of worsening weather conditions and lack of time to wait for any improvements. This meant that Wayne won the event, with Peter Bodor second and David Loukotka third. This result meant that Wayne was crowned 2013 UIM F:250 European Champion, with David Loukotka second and Peter Bodor third. Wayne and the team would like to thank Carlo Verona (VRP Engineering) and the Demmler Racing Team for their help and support throughout the event.
All of us at Team Turner wish Lembit Aaslav-Kaasik a full and speedy recovery.
Overall Standings
(11th - 12th May) |
- Czech Republic (22nd - 23rd June) |
(6th - 7th July) |
(10th - 11th August) |
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