Spectacular crash for David Trask

by Trask Racing on 4 Dec 2007 Australian Formula 1 powerboat racer David Trask was fortunate to escape unscathed in what has been rated as the biggest accident yet seen on the 2007 UIM F1 World Championship tour.

While running in fourth position and challenging for third, David Trask entered the fifth corner of the race circuit and caught a gust of wind.

'I had been making up ground on this corner over the previous laps,' David Trask said. 'But on the 29th lap my Trask Development Corporation boat broke free and took me on a wild ride.'

With the accident caught by TV cameras and beamed throughout the world, the vision revealed that the boat lifted, then came down heavily on the nose, pitched forward, spun end for end, barrel rolled and finally coming to rest the right way up.

'While I came out of the accident a bit sore and sorry for myself, the boat fared much, much worse. The crew packed up the pieces and sent it home in a box.'

Here is the You tube link http://www.f1boat.com/crashs_flips/trask-doha07.html

The advanced design of the Australian built GTR race boat did the job of both absorbing all the energy of a 200km/h accident and also protecting the driver. One sponson was all but ripped from the hull and the boat floated long enough for David to be taken aboard a rescue craft and transported to the shore based medical centre where he was checked over by the medical team.

Veteran F1 media commentators rated David Trask’s accident as ‘the biggest hit of 2007’.

The Trask Development Corporation team of Bob and David Trask will not look back on their two races at Qatar with much fondness. After damaging his number 1 hull in the opening race, Bob Trask contested the second GP of Qatar in the team’s back up GTR hull.

In qualifying Bob was well down the line in 18th pole position with David performing much better in tenth. Through the race, hard aggressive driving from David saw him work his way through the field with his eyes set on a podium finish with just 15 minutes of the GP remaining.

Similarly, brother Bob Trask worked his way through the traffic to move up from 18th position on the start dock to finish in tenth place and pick up points in the Driver’s World Championship.

'We have been tantalisingly close all season to the sharp end of the field,' Bob Trask said. 'We can touch it and smell it… it has been so frustrating to be within reach of the best in the F1 world but then just miss out on the spoils. If anything it makes David and I that much more determined.'

Now with David’s race boat totalled and en route to Brisbane for assessment, the crew have flown in boat builders from Australia to repair the remaining two GTR hulls in the Middle East for the remaining two rounds of the 2007 UIM F1 World Championship.

The tour now moves to the UAE where the final rounds at Abu Dhabi (December 7th) and Sharjah (December 14th) are to be contested.

'We have a lot of work to do to get our race boats repaired and back into shape,' Bob Trask said. 'Unfortunately we are a long way from home and we don’t have a lot of time to do this work. The pressure is right on now and we are determined to finish the 2007 series on a strong and positive note.'

www.traskbrothersracing.com.au

Powerboat-World.com will be posting still images from the crash ASAP.