2009 National Sprint Championships - Stewartby Lakes
The JC Racing Team competed in the National Hydroplane Sprint Championship at the weekend which took place at Stewartby Lakes. With the team getting the best out of the GRM powered Andick hydroplane they travelled home as the 250cc National Sprint Champions.
Although the JC Racing Team were the only 250cc outfit present at the event, it was the performance that raised a few eye brows around the pits as the team were able to keep pace with the 350cc outfits of international drivers Paul Jillings and Nigel Edwards, that were also quick throughout the weekend.
Qualifying saw the team try out a couple of set ups and driver Julian Codling was able to post lap times only one second behind the 350cc hydroplane outfits. The qualifying session will probably be remembered by Paul Jillings who, while entering the first corner at a significant speed saw the steering cable snap resulting in the hydroplane running up the bank of Stewartby Lake. Thankfully Paul's experience and quick reactions resulted in the incident being much more serious and the driver and boat escaped any serious damage.
The first race saw JC Racing Team driver Julian get a blistering start, but the race had to stopped and restarted after a turn boy was hit and dislodged from the course by a fellow competitor.
On the restart Julian once again powered away from the start line to take the lead. But as the first lap finished he had international driver Paul Jillings breathing down his neck. Paul was able to find away through on the inside of Julian and as he powered away down the back straight it looked like the 350cc Andick hull had a definate advantage over Julian's 250cc outfit.
However Julian was able to make a succession of tight turns without losing the power and was able to regain the lead which he held right up until the final corner.
As they approached the final corner Julian ran wide to lap Jeff Lowther in the 125cc outfit which let Paul up the inside as they raced across the finish line. The timing declared the finish a dead heat but as Paul had completed the fastest lap of the race, the first place was awarded to him with Julian finishing second overall but first in his 250cc class.
The second race was a different story as the start lights went out the 250cc GRM engine decide to lock on mechanic Daniel resulting in the team losing about twenty seconds as the other boats left the start line. The conciliation of race was that team driver Julian set the fastest lap of the race being nearly a second quicker than the more powerful 350cc outfits. The second heat saw a good battle between Nigel Edwards and Paul Jillings with Nigel come out on top to take the race win.
The third race saw the 250cc engine again try to lock on mechanic Daniel as the start lights went out. This time Daniel managed to pull through the engine and although it wasn't the best of starts by the time driver Julian had reached the second turn buoy he had passed both Paul Jillings and Nigel Edwards.
Having battled with Paul Jillings in an exciting race during heat one, this time Julian had to hold of late pressure from Nigel Edwards in the 350cc GRM powered Mostes hull to take the overall race win and claim the 2009 250cc National Sprint Championship.
The JC Racing Team finally had something to celebrate after what had been a difficult season and not only did they become the 250cc Sprint Champions but were able to compete with Paul Jillings and Nigel Edwards who are competitive international drivers in the 350cc series.
