Villwock’s Performance Is Anything but Flat

Taking advantage of cool, overcast weather, Dave Villwock drove Miss Budweiser to a world closed-course record lap of 173.384 mph for unlimited hydroplanes Saturday at East Mission Bay, during qualifying for today’s Bill Muncey Cup.

Villwock beat the mark of 172.166 mph set by Chip Hanauer, also in Miss Budweiser, on the same 2 1/2-mile saltwater course in 1995. It also beat an unofficial lap of 172.358 by Hanauer in 1995 at Pearl Harbor.

“Conditions were absolutely perfect,” said Villwock, defending series and race champion. “It’s easy, sometimes, to get caught up in record breaking, but knowing it was out there for the taking was tempting. We didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize winning the championship, though.”

A record crowd estimated at 50,000 witnessed the feat. More than 75,000 are expected today to watch the 30-foot, three-ton boats send roostertails 40 feet high.

Villwock later won his first three-lap heat to move within 304 points of winning a 19th owners championship for Bernie Little, the 73-year-old patriarch of unlimited hydroplanes. Two more heats, in which 400 points are awarded to each winner, are scheduled for today, followed by a five-lap final.

Hanauer, second-fastest qualifier at 163.881, won the other first-round heat in Miss Pico, the same boat in which he won his 11th APBA Gold Cup last July on the Detroit River.

Villwock and Hanauer, the only drivers to have won a race on the Unlimited Hydroplane Racing Assn. schedule this year, will meet today in the second heat. It also will be the first time three unlimited champions will be in the same race since 1979. Mark Tate, a four-time champion who came out of retirement in midseason, will be in Freddie’s Club.

Because he won four consecutive races before coming here, Villwock had to start in the fourth lane in his heat, a handicap designed to equalize the field, but the handicap proved of little help to his rivals. Before the first lap was over, the lanky two-time champion from Auburn, Wash., had worked his way to the inside. Before he could move over a lane, he had to have a five-boat advantage on the boat alongside him.

Villwock also will start from the fourth lane in today’s heats and the final.

“Dave has won from the fourth lane here before, so I don’t think it’s going to hurt him,” Hanauer said. In Saturday’s heats, Hanauer had the fastest lap, 154.028 to 150.676 for Villwock, and the fastest three-lap speed, 149.993 to 147.281.

The Facts

* What: Bill Muncey Cup at San Diego Bayfair for unlimited hydroplanes.

* Where: East Mission Bay, San Diego.

* When: Gates open, 7 a.m.; first race, noon.

* Price: $25, pit pass $15.

* Defending champion: Dave Villwock, Miss Budweiser.