Spirit of Qatar's Zimmerman Crashes out of Detroit's Apba Gold Cup Heats

Detroit, July 14 (QNA) - A spectacular high-speed 360-degree somersault on the last lap of heat 2B at the APBA Gold Cup in Detroit meant that Team Red Dot/Spirit of Qatar's Jon Zimmerman could take no further part in proceedings at the second round of the 2014 H1 Unlimited Championship at the weekend. Victory in the final of the world's oldest power boating competition fell to Jimmy Shane in 6 Oberto/Miss Madison marking the first APBA Gold Cup win for the Madison-based team since 1971 - but it was a disappointing weekend for Zimmerman, who is carrying the Spirit of Qatar team colors while a new 96 Spirit of Qatar boat is being prepared by Ellstrom Racing for Kip Brown to use later in the season. "I was running really hard trying to stay with Jimmy (Shane in 6 Oberto)," said Zimmerman, the Team Red Dot/Spirit of Qatar driver. "We went by the start/finish to start the final lap and we headed down towards the big turn. There were a couple of bumps before the turn that we got over okay and then the last one kicked the nose up. I got it to stop going up with the front wing, but it would not come back down. It hung there for what seemed like a long time and then went over. The video looks like it happened really fast, but it seemed like a lot longer in the boat. Fortunately, it did not hurt the boat too bad and I'm fine except for a chipped tooth." Shane drew first blood with 100 points for setting the fastest time in qualifying on Friday. The 6 Oberto driver clocked a speed of 162.613 mph to seal the bragging rights from second-placed Zimmerman. J. Michael Kelly was third in 1 Graham Trucking. Kelly lined up alongside Shane and Zimmerman in heat 1A on Saturday and took an early lead on the 2.5-mile course but Shane hit back and the pair were neck-and-neck with Shane confirming the heat win from Kelly and Zimmerman in third. Brian Perkins led heat 1B from start-to-finish in 21 Miss All Deeby Dodge. Cal Phipps was second and Mike Webster was third. Kelly was drawn alongside Perkins, Webster and Greg Hopp for heat 2A, but Hopp failed to make the start and Kelly cruised to a comfortable win from Perkins and Webster. Shane was joined in heat 2B by Zimmerman, Phipps and Tom Thompson. Mechanical issues forced the latter to miss the start in 11 Peters and May, but Shane became embroiled in a gripping tussle with Zimmerman until the final lap. At the entrance to the Belle Isle Bridge turn, Zimmermans boat lifted off the water and did a complete 360-degree somersault before landing the right way up. He returned to the pits with the H1 rescue team and the Team Red Dot/Spirit of Qatar Team set about assessing the damage to the race boat, as Shane took the spoils from Phipps. Shane pipped Phipps to the tape to take victory in heat 3A and Kelly held off the challenge from Perkins and Webster to win heat 3B. Shane repeated the feat to beat Phipps and Webster in heat 4A and Kelly headed Perkins in heat 4B before Shane clinched the victory in the final to secure the APBA Gold Cup. Perkins, Phipps, Kelly and Webster finished second, third, fourth and fifth, with both Kelly and Webster picking up score up violations before the start. Kelly led throughout the race but the penalty for his jump start was imposed and he slipped to fourth. The next round of the 2014 H1 Unlimited Championship will be the 49th HAPO Colombia Cup on the Colombia River at Kennewick in Washington State on July 25-27. (QNA)