YAMAHA R&D Team FOLLMER Highest Placing YAMAHA at Mark Hahn Havasu 300
MARCH 3, 2009 – FOUNTAIN VALLEY, CA. - After a year of intense planning and preparation the eve of the 5th Annual APBA Mark Hahn Havasu 300 Team Endurance Race was upon us. Although the entries were down only a few from last year due to the economy, expectations and spirits were once again extremely high among the entrants, crews and spectators who made the trek to Lake Havasu to honor the memory of Mark Hahn and compete in the World’s Longest Continuous PWC Race.
Having been in the idyllic weather in Havasu for the entire week prior to the race preparing the race site and banquet facility, one can only image what a shock it was to wake up on race day to find the wind blowing at over 35 mile per hour! Besides trying not to get blown away, the main topic on Crazy Horse Beach before the riders meeting was how to ride the wild waves of Havasu for 6 long hours and what the wind was going to do to everyone’s race and pit strategies. With the pits set up and everyone anxious to get started, promoter Jim Russell of DSM and Ross Wallach conducted a riders meeting on the beach to remind us all about the race rules and to remind all of us why we were there for the fifth year in a row – to honor the memory of the race’s namesake – Mark Hahn. After the rider’s meeting a pace and familiarization lap was run around the 10 mile course that was laid out on Lake Havasu and then the racers had a few minutes before the grand prix start to top off their fuel tanks.
Factory YAMAHA R&D Team FOLLMER entered two boats in the 5th Annual Mark Hahn Memorial – Boat #2, a YAMAHA FX SHO that was ridden by Tony Beck of Walt’s Motorsports and Mike Follmer, and Boat #26, a YAMAHA FX SHO expertly ridden by the all female team of Niky Goudreau and Lark Schmitt. Both YAMAHA R&D Team
FOLLMER FX SHO’s were expertly prepared by Bill Chapin of R&D Performance Products,Fifty four (54) boats lined up along the Crazy Horse Beach for the Land Rush start with Tony Beck on our #2 FX SHO alongside of Niky Goudreau aboard our #26 entry to do their first stints battling the wild water of Lake Havasu. Jim Russell’s shotgun blast started all 54 boats at exactly 9:15 AM in a wall of water spray from the beach toward the first course buoy, always a great sight to see! The extremely rough water with its white caps whipped by the fierce winds was a definite challenge to negotiate as you had to stand the entire time and manage the throttle lever delicately in an attempt to maintain your speed while keeping the boat from going airborne.
YHAMAH R&D Team FOLLMER’s pit strategy was for #26 with Niky aboard to start the race and pit every five laps for fuel and a rider change, and for the #2 to pit for fuel and a fresh rider on every 6th lap. This staggering of our stops allowed us to use one trailer and Rhino for both boats and insure that our pit crew could make the transition of the boats out of the water as quickly as possible and add 18 gallons of fuel without spilling any. All of our pit stops and rider changes throughout the day were clocked at less than 1 minute. Tony Beck managed to get the #2 into contention in the top ten at the conclusion of his first tour and the #26 was keeping pace right behind in 12th place.
After 6 hours of battling the elements and watching as other competitors fell by the wayside we brought home the #2 YAMAHA FX SHO in 8th place overall with 28 laps and the #26 YAMAHA FX SHO in 12th place with 26 laps. The real accomplishment of the race was that we were the first YAMAHA in the overall standings.
The awards banquet was once again an over the top affair. With a dinner for over three hundred people, catered by Lake Havasu’s Taco Hacienda, everyone had plenty of good food to go along with all of the tall tales from the day of racing.
http://www.pwcfun.com/Mark%20Hahn%20Follmer-RaceReport030309.pdf
MARCH 3, 2009 – FOUNTAIN VALLEY, CA. - After a year of intense planning and preparation the eve of the 5th Annual APBA Mark Hahn Havasu 300 Team Endurance Race was upon us. Although the entries were down only a few from last year due to the economy, expectations and spirits were once again extremely high among the entrants, crews and spectators who made the trek to Lake Havasu to honor the memory of Mark Hahn and compete in the World’s Longest Continuous PWC Race.
Having been in the idyllic weather in Havasu for the entire week prior to the race preparing the race site and banquet facility, one can only image what a shock it was to wake up on race day to find the wind blowing at over 35 mile per hour! Besides trying not to get blown away, the main topic on Crazy Horse Beach before the riders meeting was how to ride the wild waves of Havasu for 6 long hours and what the wind was going to do to everyone’s race and pit strategies. With the pits set up and everyone anxious to get started, promoter Jim Russell of DSM and Ross Wallach conducted a riders meeting on the beach to remind us all about the race rules and to remind all of us why we were there for the fifth year in a row – to honor the memory of the race’s namesake – Mark Hahn. After the rider’s meeting a pace and familiarization lap was run around the 10 mile course that was laid out on Lake Havasu and then the racers had a few minutes before the grand prix start to top off their fuel tanks.
Factory YAMAHA R&D Team FOLLMER entered two boats in the 5th Annual Mark Hahn Memorial – Boat #2, a YAMAHA FX SHO that was ridden by Tony Beck of Walt’s Motorsports and Mike Follmer, and Boat #26, a YAMAHA FX SHO expertly ridden by the all female team of Niky Goudreau and Lark Schmitt. Both YAMAHA R&D Team
FOLLMER FX SHO’s were expertly prepared by Bill Chapin of R&D Performance Products,Fifty four (54) boats lined up along the Crazy Horse Beach for the Land Rush start with Tony Beck on our #2 FX SHO alongside of Niky Goudreau aboard our #26 entry to do their first stints battling the wild water of Lake Havasu. Jim Russell’s shotgun blast started all 54 boats at exactly 9:15 AM in a wall of water spray from the beach toward the first course buoy, always a great sight to see! The extremely rough water with its white caps whipped by the fierce winds was a definite challenge to negotiate as you had to stand the entire time and manage the throttle lever delicately in an attempt to maintain your speed while keeping the boat from going airborne.
YHAMAH R&D Team FOLLMER’s pit strategy was for #26 with Niky aboard to start the race and pit every five laps for fuel and a rider change, and for the #2 to pit for fuel and a fresh rider on every 6th lap. This staggering of our stops allowed us to use one trailer and Rhino for both boats and insure that our pit crew could make the transition of the boats out of the water as quickly as possible and add 18 gallons of fuel without spilling any. All of our pit stops and rider changes throughout the day were clocked at less than 1 minute. Tony Beck managed to get the #2 into contention in the top ten at the conclusion of his first tour and the #26 was keeping pace right behind in 12th place.
After 6 hours of battling the elements and watching as other competitors fell by the wayside we brought home the #2 YAMAHA FX SHO in 8th place overall with 28 laps and the #26 YAMAHA FX SHO in 12th place with 26 laps. The real accomplishment of the race was that we were the first YAMAHA in the overall standings.
The awards banquet was once again an over the top affair. With a dinner for over three hundred people, catered by Lake Havasu’s Taco Hacienda, everyone had plenty of good food to go along with all of the tall tales from the day of racing.
http://www.pwcfun.com/Mark%20Hahn%20Follmer-RaceReport030309.pdf
