2024 Apollo Mechanical Cup
Statistics - Qualifying Heats
| Revchem Composites Fast Lap Qualifying Results: | ||
|---|---|---|
| Andrew Tate | U-91 Miss Goodman Real Estate | 158.985 mph |
| Corey Peabody | U-9 Beacon Plumbing | 155.242 mph |
| Dustin Echols | U-40 Flav-R-PAC | 153.744 mph |
| J. Michael Kelly | U-1 Beacon Electric | 150.385 mph |
| Dave Villwock | U-27 Miss Apollo Mechanical | 150.294 mph |
| Jamie Nilsen | U-11 Miss Mercurys Coffee | 148.306 mph |
| Gunnar O'Farrell | U-35 Boitano Homes | 146.287 mph |
| Bobby King | U-12 Graham Trucking | 142.140 mph |
Qualifying Recap:
The H1 Unlimited hydroplanes took to the water for the 75th anniversary of Seafair for the Apollo Mechanical Cup on Friday morning for testing followed by qualifying to see who can take home the $2500 Revchem Composites Fastest Lap award this weekend.
The U-91 Miss Goodman Real Estate hydroplane piloted by Andrew Tate showed speed during the Friday morning test session with a top speed posted of 155.032 mph, but the team only posted two laps in the session. The U-9 Beacon Plumbing hydroplane driven by Corey Peabody and fielded by Strong Racing took to the course for five laps but didn’t post a qualifying lap speed.
In the first three races of the 2024 H1 season, the Revchem Fastest Lap award has been shared by both the U-91 and the U-9 so the battle was on for Seafair. Peabody was up first and flew the U-9 around the two-mile race course to post a top speed of 155.242 mph, but Tate and the U-91 were up next and posted a speed at 156.985 mph to claim their third Revchem award of the season.
With a shortened qualifying session on Friday, the Saturday morning test session started off with an extension of qualifying to allow the boats another pass to try to improve their times from Friday afternoon as per the H1 rule book, all boats need to have the chance to take a second opportunity to improve their qualifying effort.
Following two different incidents at last week’s race in Tri-Cities, Washington, three of the hydroplanes sustained damage that needed to be repaired in short order to make it to the water in Seattle. The U-1 Beacon Electric of J. Michael Kelly, the U-27 Apollo Mechanical of Dave Villwock and the U-12 of Bobby King all made it to Seafair, but only the U-1 and U-27 made it onto the water on Friday. The U-12 Graham Trucking team was still battling some mechanical issues on Friday and weren’t able to make a testing or qualifying lap, but took back to the water on Sarturday morning to qualify for the event.
H1 Unlimited also celebrated a new annual initiative for Seafair with Hydros & Heroes where names of fallen Washington officers are honored on each hydroplane competing at Seafair. Families and friends of the fallen officers attended Friday’s events and were hosted by Beacon Electric/Beacon Plumbing and Strong Racing.
| Heat 1A Results | ||
|---|---|---|
| Driver: | Boat: | Avg. Speed: |
| Corey Peabody | U-9 Beacon Plumbing | 143.BIB mph |
| J. Michael Kelly | U-1 Beacon Electric | 134.886 mph |
| Dave Villwock | U-27 Apollo Mechanical | 128.980 mph |
| Dustin Echols | U-40 Flav-R-PAC* | 102.531 mph |
| *Jumped start. One minute penalty assessed. | ||
| Heat 1B Results: | ||
|---|---|---|
| Driver: | Boat: | Avg. Speed: |
| Andrew Tate | U-91 Miss Goodman Real Estate | 142.464 mph |
| Jamie Nilsen | U-11 Miss Mercurys Coffee | 138.849 mph |
| Gunnar O'Farrell | U-35 Gutters by Keith presents Boitano Homes | 134.571 mph |
| Bobby King | U-12 Graham Trucking | 132.498 mph |
| Heat 2A Results: | ||
|---|---|---|
| Driver: | Boat: | Avg. Speed: |
| Dustin Echols | U-40 Flav-R-PAC | 140.540 mph |
| Michael Kelly | U-1 Beacon Electric | 137.662 mph |
| Jamie Nilsen | U-11 Miss Mercurys Coffee* | 97.396 mph |
| Gunnar O'Farrell | U-35 Gutters by Keith presents Boitano Homes | 93.667 mph |
| *Jumped start. One minute penalty assessed. | ||
| Heat 2B Results: | ||
|---|---|---|
| Driver: | Boat: | Avg. Speed: |
| Corey Peabody | U-9 Beacon Plumbing | 144.743 mph |
| Andrew Tate | U-91 Miss Goodman Real Estate | 143.200 mph |
| Dave Villwock | U-27 Apollo Mechanical | 120.505 mph |
| Bobby King | U-12 Graham Trucking* | 94.653 mph |
| *Jumped start. One minute penalty assessed. | ||
Saturday Heat Recap:
Following the morning second qualifying session, the H1 Unlimited hydroplanes took to the race course for a total of four heats on Saturday afternoon. In the first heat, 1A, the U-9 Beacon Plumbing hydroplane of Corey Peabody showed the speed of Strong Racing. The U-40 Flav-R-PAC of Dustin Echols also showed strength on the start, but unfortunately jumped it resulting in a one-minute penalty from the officials. Peabody would claim the first heat win of the day and when the U-9 lined up again for heat 2B, Peabody once again made his way to the front to win ahead of Andrew Tate.
Revchem Composite Fast Lap award winner, Tate in the U-91 Miss Goodman Real Estate hydroplane for Miss Madison Racing claimed the win in heat 1B, but would finish second in heat 2B.
After Echols was found to have jumped the start in heat 1A, he was able to redeem that in heat 2A when he got a perfect start and held onto the lead to claim the first heat win of 2024 for the U-40 and Bucket List Racing.
| Heat 3A Results: | ||
|---|---|---|
| Driver: | Boat: | Avg. Speed: |
| Andrew Tate | U-91 Miss Goodman Real Estate | 142.948 mph |
| Dustin Echols | U-40 Flav-R-PAC | 136.347 mph |
| Gunnar O'Farrell | U-35 Gutters by Keith presents Boitano Homes | 131.654 mph |
| Bobby King | U-12 Graham Trucking | 123.957 mph |
| Heat 3B Results: | ||
|---|---|---|
| Driver: | Boat: | Avg. Speed: |
| Corey Peabody | U-9 Beacon Plumbing | 142.390 mph |
| Michael Kelly | U-1 Beacon Electric | 141.474 mph |
| Jamie Nilsen | U-11 Miss Mercurys Coffee | 135.838 mph |
| Dave Villwock | D-27 Apollo Mechanical | 133.739 mph |
H1 Unlimited