Thani Al Qamzi started from Pole Position, and had quickly a solid lead in the race.
Ahamed Al Hamli was running 3rd for a long time, and passed Rashid Al Tayer when there was 7 laps to go. According to my special Norwegian reporter Bjarne Horntvedt, the greatest fight in the race.
Bjarne Reports that the Abu Dhabi Team has an impressive pace, and the drivers are pushing very very hard.
So, with todays win Thani Al Qamzi has just a small hair in the soup of his winning strike, Yesterdays DNF, but 5 out of 6 is very good – and a different to the Formula 1 drivers who most of them will start off fresh when they will meet in Qatar in a few days.
Pertti Leppala always said, “there is no substitute for seat tim” and if he is right, well – then Thani Al Qamzi has a good shoot at winning the F1 race in Doha, Qatar.
Congratulation goes also to Scott Gillman. A fantastic job, from a fantastic driver. I was digging in some old files, and found this one..
Read it, and enjoy !
A Race To Remember,” Billy Seebold vs Scott Gillman.
Written by well known motor sports artist, Kenny Youngblood
It was the last race of the 1990 IOGP season; the F1 outboard championship would be determined at Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. We had come a long way, not
only in distance, but from rookies in 1985 to this deciding moment. We were in a dead tie for the points lead ..all we had to do was finish better than the “winningest” driver in the history of power boat racing, Billy Seebold! In those days, you got only a one-shot, sudden death qualifying lap.
If you did good you went to the head of the line (for the dock start); if not so good, you went to the end. Racer Chuck McKay was on a streak and qualified his Chris Bush-prepped entry on the pole, second were the hometown favorites, the Miller brothers; Kevin Miller driving his and brother Mark’s homebuilt hull. Billy Seebold qualified third. Scott knew he had to haul ass and aired the boat out on the approach lap. He was probably pushing 125 mph down the back
straightaway when the main steering pulley bolt let go on the non-torque side of the motor (in a video replay you could see the cable flapping in the breeze). When he set the boat for the turn, it set ..but didn’t turn! With no steering, Gillman miraculously missed the row of spectator yachts anchored just off the course and came to a safe stop, but we would be starting dead last! Past
experience had taught me however, that starting last wasn’t as bad as it sounded. The boats usually bunched up a bit going into the first turn, and you could sweep them on the outside. And besides, a good-natured Kevin Miller told Scott that he’d “hold a spot open for him!” Back at our trailer the stress level, however, was getting dangerous. I had to do something quick so I took a piece of cardboard and a sharpie, and created the first ever “Stress-O-Meter”; an adjustable gauge that went from “having a nice day” to “call 911.” We were already at the “buy Depends” level, but the Stress-O-Meter worked; calming the crew down. At the green flag, as planned, Gillman went to the outside and flew past the slower boats before they even got to the first pin. In the corner the spray obscured our view from the spotter’s area, but when he emerged, Gillman, amazingly, was in second position, behind McKay and already ahead of Miller and Seebold!
The race was on and so was the pressure! McKay stretched his lead a bit while Gillman, Miller and Seebold battled it out. At about half way through the 30 laps, there was a crash and they red flagged the boats; returning them to the dock. We did a quick check of our boat and everything looked good, but it wasn’t so for Seebold! Billy’s crew had the cowl off and the word was that they had lost one of their trim solenoids! In spite of feverishly thrashing to fix it, they ran out of time and were forced to go back out, seriously impaired! With just a few laps to go, McKay’s motor let go putting us in the lead. But Kevin Miller was on a mission; pressing Gillman for the win. On the radio we anxiously kept Scott appraised of Miller’s movements and reassured him that he could hold him off, when Gillman came back with a message seldom heard. “I’m going to let him by!” There was radio silence as myself and spotter Dale Cole held back our natural instincts to try to win every race. Afterwards, we realized that Gillman had made the right decision as he might have crashed trying to fend Miller off, which would have allowed a limping Bill Seebold to get the championship. Kevin Miller’s generosity was rewarded; the man who “left a spot open” for Gillman went by us to win the event in front of his family and friends, while Scott and his crew became the 1990 IOGP F1 National Champions! (Kenny Youngblood, Crew Chief, Gillman Racing)
