2011 Oryx Cup World Championship, Qatar
Doha Bay, Qatar – November 17th-19th, 2011
For immediate release
Saturday, November 19th, 2011
U-7’S SCOTT LIDDYCOAT CLINCHES DRAMATIC
ORYX CUP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP IN DOHA BAY
· Jeff Bernard seals runner-up spot: Greg Hopp takes third
· Dave Villwock and Steve David triumph in Heats 3A and 3B
· Heat 4A and 4B success falls to J. Michael Kelly and Liddycoat
DOHA (Qatar): Rookie sensation Scott Liddycoat clinched a dramatic victory in the 2011 Oryx Cup World Championship final in Doha Bay on Saturday afternoon.
In his first year of H1 Unlimited racing, the youngster, from Suffolk in Virginia, initially finished second overall behind Steve David in U-1 Oh Boy! Oberto, but race officials deemed that David, U-96 Spirit of Qatar’s Dave Villwock and U-88 Degree Man’s J. Michael Kelly had all jumped the start and they were duly penalised. This handed the shock Oryx Cup World Championship victory to Liddycoat, with Jeff Bernard and Greg Hopp filling the unlikely podium places.
Liddycoat duly became the third different driver in as many years to win Qatar’s Oryx Cup, following J. Michael Kelly’s success in 2009 and Villwock’s win last year.
The event is the brainchild of His Excellency Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor Al-Thani, president of the Qatar Marine Sports Federation (QMSF) and officials at H1 Unlimited, under the chairmanship of Sam Cole.
The 2011 Oryx Cup World Championship final
The all-important draw pitted Scott Liddycoat on the inside of Jeff Bernard, Steve David, J. Michael Kelly, Dave Villwock, Greg Hopp and Jimmy Shane for the winner-takes-all, five-lap final. The start was initially deemed legal and David made in-roads into Liddycoat’s advantage from the outset. He sneaked into the lead soon afterwards and began to edge away.
Villwock managed to pass Bernard and Kelly, but had no answer to the leading duo and was unable to close the gap on a charging David and Liddycoat. All seven boats reached the chequered flag, with David pulling into a useful lead, from runner-up Liddycoat and third-placed Villwock. A distant Kelly, Bernard, Hopp and Shane in the trailer boat completed the finishing order.
But race officials needed to take a closer look at a replay of the start to determine whether any of the drivers had jumped the gun and it was deemed that David, Villwock and Kelly had all passed the start line before the clock ticked down to zero. They were duly pushed back into fifth, sixth and seventh places by the penalties, with Liddycoat promoted to the win and Bernard, Hopp and Shane completing an unlikely top four.
Heats 3A and 3B
J.W. Myers, Greg Hopp, Dave Villwock, J. Michael Kelly and Jeff Bernard lined up at the start of Heat 3A in the absence of Mike Webster and Hopp made a good start to head the field into the first turn. But he soon came under pressure from U-96 and Villwock began to edge away from the field, as Hopp held off Kelly’s advances and Bernard and Myers slipped behind.
There was no stopping Villwock and the QMSF-backed driver coasted to the chequered flag to confirm his third successive heat win of the weekend. Hopp held on for second and Kelly, who had been docked his points from one of Friday’s heats because of a fuel violation, finished third. Bernard took fourth and Myers reached the finish in fifth, having been lapped by the leaders on the final straight.
Steve David was hotly-tipped to win Heat 3B from lane three, but he hadn’t bargained for a superb display by Kip Brown from lane two. Once the U-17 driver has passed Jimmy Shane on lap one, he managed to sneak into the lead and David was unable to close him down over the next two tours of the Doha Bay course. Brown held on to take 400 points, David finished second and Scott Liddycoat, who had been docked points for a fuel violation on Friday, squeezed passed Shane to take points for third. Brian Perkins finished fifth.
But Brown was alleged to have jumped the start by a fraction of a second and the penalty pushed him down to fifth place, with David, Liddycoat, Shane and Perkins all moving up the order as a result.
Heats 4A and 4B
In cloudier and slightly breezier afternoon conditions, Kelly lined up on the inside of Brown, Shane, David and Bernard for the start of Heat 4A. Bernard made a fast start from the outside, but Kelly held the inside line and managed to stay out front until he fell victim to a charging Brown. Shane ground to a halt after the first turn and Brown headed Kelly, David and Bernard through lap one.
He appeared to be extending that advantage on the second tour until the engine gave out as he approached the final turn of the lap and Kelly gained a lead he held to the finish. David shadowed him to the flag, with Bernard finishing third.
Liddycoat, Villwock, Myers, Perkins and Hopp surged through the starting gate at the beginning of Heat 4B, but Hopp was adjudged to have jumped the gun and was penalised by a lap. A frantic tussle ensured between rookie sensation Liddycoat and Villwock, with the youngster belying his lack of H1 experience to hold off the champion of champions.
Villvock managed to edge in front, but Liddycoat kept up the pressure and race officials needed a video replay to judge that Liddycoat eventually pipped his rival to the flag by the narrowest of margins. Perkins reached the finish in third and Myers was penalised and slipped to fourth, ahead of Hopp.
Oryx Cup – UIM World Championship – H1 Unlimited Heats and Oryx Cup (unofficial @ 16.00hrs)
Oryx Cup World Championship final – results
1. U-7 Scott Liddycoat Valken.com 400 points
2. U-5 Jeff Bernard Graham Trucking 300 points
3. U-100 Greg Hopp Leland Unlimited 225 points
4. U-57 Jimmy Shane Formulaboats.com 169 points
5. U-1 Steve David Oh Boy! Oberto 129 points
6. U-96 Dave Villwock Spirit of Qatar 69 points
7. U-88 J. Michael Kelly Degree Man 25 points
3A
1. U-96 Dave Villwock Spirit of Qatar 400 points
2. U-100 Greg Hopp Leland Unlimited 300 points
3. U-88 J. Michael Kelly Degree Man 225 points
4. U-5 Jeff Bernard Graham Trucking 169 points
5. U-11 J. W. Myers Peters & May 125 points
U-22 Mike Webster Great Scott! DNS
3B
1. U-1 Steve David Oh Boy! Oberto 400 points
2. U-7 Scott Liddycoat Valken.com 300 points
3. U-57 Jimmy Shane Formulaboats.com 225 points
4. U-21 Brian Perkins TapouT 169 points
5. U-17 Kip Brown Miss Red Dot 125 points
U-25 Ryan Mallow Oryx Cup UIM World Championship DNS
4A
1. U-88 J. Michael Kelly Degree Man 400 points
2. U-1 Steve David Oh Boy! Oberto 300 points
3. U-5 Jeff Bernard Graham Trucking 225 points
U-17 Kip Brown Miss Red Dot DNF
U-57 Jimmy Shane Formulaboats.com DNF
4B
1. U-7 Scott Liddycoat Valken.com 400 points
2. U-96 Dave Villwock Spirit of Qatar 300 points
3. U-21 Brian Perkins TapouT 225 points
4. U-11 J. W. Myers Peters & May 169 points
5. U-100 Greg Hopp Leland Unlimited 125 points
Ends
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