MOTOR SPORTS HYDROPLANE RACING : Tate Comes Close, but Pierce Leads Field

Scott Pierce and Miss Budweiser continued their domination of unlimited hydroplane qualifying Saturday at Mission Bay, but not without the closest challenge of the season.

Pierce made his winning run of 161.662 m.p.h. Friday and let it stand when Mark Tate and the Winston Eagle came an eyelash short with a 161.381 effort late in Saturday’s qualifying for today’s Budweiser Cup over the 2 1/2-mile Bill Muncey Memorial Course.

It was the sixth consecutive race in which Pierce has had the fastest boat on the water.

“We thought we had a winning run going when we topped out at 200 m.p.h. on both straightaways, but we lost the motor in the fourth turn and didn’t have much left for the final drive to the finish line,” Tate said.

Pierce and the Budweiser crew were watching intently as the Winston Eagle made its run, but when Tate pulled the orange boat back to the dock, they relaxed.

The third fastest qualifier, Oh Boy! Oberto, set a world piston-driven record of 147.953 m.p.h. with Mitch Evans of Chelan, Wash., driving. Evans set the record of 143.511 here last year in the same boat, although its name then was Cooper’s Express.

Tate and Pierce, who have won two of the last five races in the Unlimited Hydroplane Series, will race today in three three-lap heats and a five-lap championship final.

“Qualifying won’t mean a thing when we line up for that first heat,” Pierce said. “We’ll be going after that first turn with all we’ve got so we can get the inside line the rest of the way.”

Tate is close to clinching the driver’s title in Winston Eagle, and Miss Budweiser is a near cinch to win boat honors.

Tate leads Pierce by 524 points, though 427 of Tate’s came when he finished second at Honolulu last November in the Oh Boy! Oberto boat. Tate became the Winston Eagle driver after the Honolulu race.

Miss Budweiser leads the Winston Eagle by 300 points, but 560 of its 3,108 came at Honolulu where Tom D’Eath drove to the victory.