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 BAY
CITY RIVER ROAR
“It’s
Rough and Ugly and Tries to Eat Boats”
Formula
One PROP Tour Prepares for One of North America’s Most
Exciting Boat Races, the 23rd Dow Bay City
River Roar
Nixa, Mo. (June 4, 2010) – After finishing
second in the 2009 Dow Bay City River on the Saginaw
River, Formula One driver Chris Fairchild stepped from his
boat, wiped the sweat from his face and told a Bay City
Times reporter, “It was typical Saginaw River: Rough and
ugly and trying to eat boats.”
The 23rd annual Dow Bay City River Roar
will be held June 25-27 and will feature the PROP Tour’s
Formula 1, Formula 2 (SST-120 and SST-200) and Formula
Lights (SST-45) tunnel-hull race boats. The schedule
includes the APBA Super Lights boats.
The
River Roar has become one of the oldest and most revered
Formula One boat races. The river course is long and
narrow, producing speeds over 120 miles per hour as well
as high levels of chaos in the sharp turns on often
choppy, wind-whipped waters.
Fairchild, a resident of Paw Paw, Ill., has won at
Bay City twice in the Formula 2 class but continues to
seek his first win there in Formula 1. In one sense,
though, he believes he has achieved some success on the
Saginaw. “Just to survive Bay City is a victory in
itself.”
Since the first River Roar in 1988, Bay City has
humbled the top outboard powerboat racers in the world.
Former world champions Bill Seebold and Scott Gillman were
unable to reach the top level of the podium in the race.
Former national champions Tim Seebold and Terry Rinker
have won the River Roar three times each – but have
ended other races bobbing in the water beside battered
hulls after spectacular barrel-rolls and blow-overs.
Tim Seebold of Osage Beach, Mo., will enter the
2010 Dow Bay City River Roar as the Formula One points
leader on the PROP Tour. He finished second in the
season-opener at Port Neches, Texas, on May 2, but
gathered enough points in the preliminary heats to leave
with a two-point lead over winner Shaun Torrente.
“The water at Bay City is really hard to
read,” said Tim Seebold, who won there in 2005, 2007 and
2009. “The
reason is that the chop isn’t from the wind. You’ve
got it from the boats. You’ve got it from the sea wall
on your outside. Then you have it coming all the way
across from the other sea wall. You get some wind coming
through at the ramp at the end of the front straight, then
you get some wind on the other side of the course right at
the end of the hospitality tents. Then you’ve got some
wind coming through the buildings at the end of the back
straightaway. For whatever reason, it always seems like
there’s a cross wind there.”
If those waves and winds don’t get you,
the Bay City course has yet another evil trick, said
retired driver Bill Seebold, owner of Team Seebold.
“A lot of times the wind is blowing from the
west, then it hits those big brick buildings at the end of
the back straight and suddenly bounces back at you from
the east.”
“There are only four people who have won
there more than once,” Tim said. “That tells you right
there how tough it is.”
Felix Serralles of Ponce, Puerto Rico, won
the Formula One race three times in the early 1990s. Mike
Seebold of Marco Island, Fla., who now races offshore
boats, won five times from 1990 through 2002.
Shaun Torrente of Homestead, Fla., would like to
become the fifth repeat Formula One winner at Bay City. He
won the River Roar in 2008 and also claimed the first PROP
Tour race this year.
“Bay City is my favorite race and the one I
wanted to win above all others,” Torrente said. “When
you win there, you have prevailed over your competition as
well as the river.”
Torrente said he has raced on water that is
“bigger and rougher” than the Saginaw at Bay City, but
he has never raced on a body of water that is so complex.
“The size of the waves is not what makes Bay City
unique,” he said. “I think it has to do with the
current, the sea walls and the placement of the ramps on
the course. It becomes like a bathtub with a
three-mile-per-hour current that just continues to get
churned up. There is no consistent direction or size to
the water. It just takes a feel and the ability to get
into a rhythm to survive there.”
Team Abu Dhabi
Four-time UIM World Champion Scott Gillman was
unable to win the Bay City River Roar as a driver. This
year he will attempt to take home the first-place trophy
as a team owner.
Team Abu Dhabi driver Ahmed Al-Hameli won the first
race of the F1H20 season at Potamio, Portugal. Teammate
Thani Al-Qamzi finished third. Gillman is bringing the
team to Bay City for the River Roar. Both drivers will run
Italian DAC hulls. One will be powered by the 2.5-liter,
six-cylinder, fuel-injected Mercury engine that has been
the standard powerplant in Formula One racing for decades.
The other team boat will carry a 3.0-liter Johnson V-6
developed by Sea-Way Marine in Seattle.
The Johnson engine earned its first podium finish
on the PROP Tour at Port Neches when Michael Schubert of
Richmond, Texas, finished third for the Sea-Way Marine
team.
Port Neches Wrap-up
Tim Seebold ran away from the field over the first
38 laps in the Formula One final at Port Neches. The race
was red-flagged when Brian Normand crashed and the boats
headed back to the starting dock. When the green flag
waved for the restart, Seebold’s engine hesitated before
firing, giving Shaun Torrente a chance to grab the lead,
which he held over the remaining 12 laps. Seebold finished
second and Michael Schubert was third.
2010 Formula One PROP Tour Standings
1.
Tim Seebold, Osage Beach, Mo.
497
2.
Shaun Torrente, Homestead, Fla.
495
3.
Mike Schubert, Richmond, Tex.
470
4.
Chris Fairchild, Paw Paw, Ill.
454
5.
Jose Mendana, Miami, Fla.
432
6.
Brian Normand, Mandeville, La.
421
7.
Terry Rinker, Tampa, Fla.
419
8.
Lynn Simburger, Elsah, Ill.
408
9.
Donny Lick, Hastings, Minn.
84
Formula
Two Preview
Dan Orchard, of Ontario, a three-Canadian
national champion, is the points leader for the PROP Tour
Formula 2 class. He was declared the Formula Lights winner
at Bay City in 2008 after the first finisher was
disqualified in technical inspection. “We never got to
drive around with the checkered flag,” he said.
Orchard finished second in the Formula Two
class at Port Neches. The race was won by Glyn Mathews of
Richmond, Tex., who will not be contesting the full PROP
Tour schedule. This season will bring Orchard’s first
effort in the larger Formula Two boat on the Saginaw
River.
“Bay City has an aura of being one of the
roughest races of the season. When I have found is that it
is a different kind of water, more chop or slop than
ominous rollers that you see at other sites,” he said.
“If you add some weight to the nose and keep your foot
in it you can skip over the chop and it really isn’t too
bad. I may have a different opinion after I run my first
F2 race there!”
Johnny Fleming, winner of the Formula Two
class at Bay City in 2009, is second in PROP’s F2
standings.
2010 Formula Two PROP Tour Standings
1. Dan Orchard, Ontario, Canada
508
2. Johnny Fleming, Woodlands, Tex.
504
3. Tracey Hawkins, Willis, Tex.
485
4. Jimmie Merleau, Fennville, Mich.
466
5. Mark Wimpee Sr., Kingman, Ariz.
434
6. Shaun Torrente, Homestead, Fla.
138
7. Donny Lick, Hastings, Minn.
133
Formula
One Winners at Bay City
1988
Don Johnson, Riverside, Calif.
1989
Steve DeSouza, Lynwood, Wash.
1990
Mike Seebold, St. Louis, Mo.
1991
Felix Serralles, Ponce, Puerto Rico
1992
Felix Serralles, Ponce, Puerto Rico
1993
Rick Adamczyk, East Rockaway, N.Y.
1994
Felix Serralles, Ponce, Puerto Rico
1995
Ben Robertson, Summerville, S.C.
1996
Mike Seebold, St. Louis, Mo.
1997
Alden Thornton, Kill Devil Hills, N.C.
1998
Terry Rinker, Riverview, Fla.
1999
Greg Foster, Anaheim Hills, Calif.
2000
Mike Seebold, St. Louis, Mo.
2001
Mike Seebold, St. Louis, Mo.
2002
Mike Seebold, St. Louis, Mo.
2003
Terry Rinker, Riverview, Fla.
2004
Jason Campbell, Chandler, Ariz.
2005
Tim Seebold, Osage Beach, Mo.
2006
Terry Rinker, Riverview, Fla.
2007
Tim Seebold, Osage Beach, Mo.
2008
Shaun Torrente, Homestead, Fla.
2009
Tim Seebold, Osage Beach, Mo.
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