4 days ago
Dramatic end to Formula 1 powerboat season
The final round of the SA Formula One Powerboat Championship came to a dramatic end at the East Rand Speedboat Club in Benoni on Saturday.
Championship leader Keagan Frankiewicz sadly barrel-rolled on the second lap of the opening heat and was transported to hospital with a back injury.
With Frankiewicz out of the running for the day, it gave Bruce Repsold a chance to possibly win the sought after championship title, but it was not to be as Repsold unfortunately struck and dislodged the turn buoys at the top side of the circuit, leading to a disqualification in the opening heat.
With the disqualification of Repsold, Michael Wessels, who was third in the championship going into the last round, needed a full house of wins to move into second place behind Frankiewicz, and this he did putting in a very calculated drive under massive pressure from the hard-charging Repsold.
The large crowd that attended the powerboat festival on the Ebotse Dam in Rynfield were treated to some of the best racing action seen in many years as Repsold, who was running a 2 l motor tried every trick in the book to pass Wessels, who has upgraded to a 2.5 l motor on his SA-built Caudwell hull.
Wessels' and John-Ross Duncan's boats were built by Caudwell Marine by Hi-Tech Automotive, on the outskirts of Gqeberha, many years ago and were fitted with Nissan V6 inboard engines and were raced in the World F1 Series with little success as they kept snapping the orbital driveshafts.
The boats returned to SA and have been shortened, had transoms fitted to now use an outboard motor, and have been developed into top contending boats in the local championship.
Wessels enjoyed three out of three wins and moved ahead of Repsold to finish second in the championship behind Frankiewicz, who has now won his third championship in a row.
It was a fantastic end to the season for Wessels as he missed the third round of the season after having donated one of his kidneys to his mother in a life-saving operation.
His father, Nico, ended the day in second place overall with Repsold in third, followed by the ever-improving Dylan Moolman in fourth, with Duncan in fifth.
The Herald
