Record Run by Hanauer Doesn’t Ease His Mind

SAN DIEGO —  It was a simple congratulations, without even the slightest hint of excitement, indicating just how little significance veteran unlimited hydroplane drivers attach to qualifying records.

It came in the pit area minutes after Circus Circus driver Chip Hanauer of Seattle finally licked the salt. He went 158.870 m.p.h. on a qualifying lap at Mission Bay Saturday, the fastest speed recorded by an unlimited boat. Thus ended a string of frustrating saltwater-related engine problems that Hanauer hopes will stay in hiding when he tries for his eighth consecutive Gold Cup today at Mission Bay.

So Larry Lauterbach, veteran driver of the Winston Eagle from Portsmouth, Va., dropped by to shake Hanauer’s hand and say: “Very nice. Congrats. It looked good.”

“Thanks,” said Hanauer, without a particularly noteworthy smile. “I just hope we can make it.”

Friday, he didn’t. Most of his qualifying attempts ended with a tow to the dock. Here’s a guy who is supposed to be the best driver on the circuit, with his 29 unlimited victories, and he has this to say: “Yesterday, I didn’t think we were a threat to anybody except the patrol boat.”

It was the patrol boat that towed him back to the dock.

Suffice it to say, Hanauer wasn’t exactly dancing Saturday. In fact, for a guy who just set a world record, he was actually pretty melancholy. He knows how quickly saltwater can change good fortune to goodby.

“I don’t like our chances,” Hanauer said, “but I don’t like anybody else’s either.”

A pessimist?

“Not a pessimist,” he said, “just a realist. It’s such a long day tomorrow. We’ve got to run 60 miles. It’s darn near to Disneyland from here.”

Drivers who have been driving speedboats for years, such as Hanauer, Lauterbach and Miss Budweiser’s Tom D’Eath, have been to Disneyland and back more times than they would probably care to count. From the trips, they have learned not to push when it isn’t necessary.

Lauterbach doesn’t fuss over qualifying speeds. They became a lot less important to him in 1969, after he spent eight days in intensive care with a punctured lung and broken spleen following an accident at Hampton, Va. He was young and reckless, fresh off two years of duty in Vietnam.

“I felt if the Viet Cong didn’t kill me, the race boat wouldn’t,” he said. “It was all my fault. I was just out there hotdogging on a windy day.”

Twenty years later, Lauterbach is privy to the dangers of this sport. Two years ago, his oldest brother, Hank, was killed in a speedboat accident. Hank didn’t start his racing career until he was 43, and Larry was concerned for his safety. It takes a young man to endure the mishaps caused by inexperience.

“I tried to discourage him,” Lauterbach said. “In our sport, you’ve got to pay your dues. He was overweight. He was going through, at 43, what I went through at 21. (With experience) you learn to use your head more than you use your foot.”

Lauterbach worked his way up. He developed his original interest from his father, Henry, a former driver who builds hydroplane boats. Larry had 23 years of driving experience before ever driving in an unlimited race.

“I think it was very beneficial for me to take the steps gradually,” he said. “In our sport youth is nowhere near (as important) as experience.”

This is Lauterbach’s first full season driving unlimited hydroplanes, though he made enough of a name for himself in Grand Prix driving to earn an induction into the American Power Boat Assn. Hall of Champions in 1983. Lauterbach dedicated his first and only unlimited hydroplane victory (Evansville, Ind., July 9) to Hank.

Following Saturday’s qualifying runs, Lauterbach was in fourth place in the speed standings with an average of 146.032. Hanauer’s record run boosted his average to 158.297 and placed him first in the two-day qualifying standings ahead of Miss Budweiser (152.039) and Mr. Pringles (149.775).

But the salt is still weighing heavily on the minds of most turbine drivers.

“I don’t think there’s a turbine boat here that feels they’ve got this deal handled,” Hanauer said.

Hydroplane Notes

Circus Circus is sitting pretty entering today’s first qualifying heats. Heat 1A has Miss Budweiser, Winston Eagle, Holset/Miss Madison, Cooper’s Express, Oh Boy! Oberto and Mr. Pringles, which all finished in the top seven during qualifying. Circus Circus will run in Heat 1B with Miss Northwest, Miss Easter Seals, Sundek, U.S. West Cellular, and Mid-Mark Distributors, which finished in the bottom five . . . Miss Rock, which blew five engines during qualifying, has withdrawn. . . . The Budweiser crew replaced a worn engine seal that contributed to Friday’s engine problems and had smoother runs Saturday. . . . Hanauer said he wouldn’t be surprised if Tom D’Eath recorded a 160 m.p.h. lap in Miss Budweiser, but D’Eath ran one cautious lap in 117.172 on the final run and called it a day. . . . Scott Pierce, driver of Mr. Pringles, came back from his final qualifying run with a smile on his face. Earlier, he had said: “The boat’s just not performing the way it should. We’re down on power and we just can’t get a handle on the solution.” He got a handle on it soon after, running his best lap in two days at 151.007.