At The Shop – Unlimited Racing Group
A year ago, Scott and Shannon Raney’s Unlimited Racing Group had not one, but two badly broken race boats – one in their Edmonds, Washington shop and one on the way home from Qatar.
When the team’s boat was badly damaged in Doha in February, they acquired the former Budweiser T-4 from Schumacher racing. That boat had not been repaired since being badly damaged in an encounter with a seawall in Detroit.
The decision was made to try to make T-4 seaworthy in time for the Sacramento race in May. A heroic effort by Scott and the crew was rewarded with podium finishes at the APBA Gold Cup in Detroit and the season ender in San Diego by second year driver Tom Thompson of Cambridge, Maryland.
After starting the season with virtually no points in the Oryx Cup, the team rebounded with a strong season and a sixth place finish in season high points.
Scott says, “We have had a very productive winter working on both of our boats. While we are going to race T-4 this year, the other boat that was severely damaged in the Qatar accident is also in the process of repair. There is no timetable for the completion of that boat as we work on it when time allows.”
The crew spent a good amount of time in the off season building up spare composite parts like rear wings, rear uprights etc. to provide more depth in the spares in the truck – a big change from the thrash to get a boat ready for the 2013 season.
Raney says, “We went completely through all of the systems and hardware and we have two race ready turbines and parts to build a third and two gearboxes ready for the season.”
Raney added, “We removed the right sponson deck off of T-4 to go inside and check the integrity of the internal structures and then built and installed a new carbon fiber deck. The boat is just about finished being prepared for paint which will begin in the next few days.”
No changes planned for the familiar Peters & May color scheme and the paint should be dry in plenty of time for the season opener in Madison this year, unlike last season where the paint literally dried on the way to Sacramento.
After a strong season in 2013, Tom Thompson will return to the driver’s seat of the 11 Peters & May for the 2014 H1 Unlimited racing season.
By Steve Montgomery – H1
Photos by Unlimited Racing Group
At The Shop – Unlimited Racing Group
A year ago, Scott and Shannon Raney’s Unlimited Racing Group had not one, but two badly broken race boats – one in their Edmonds, Washington shop and one on the way home from Qatar.
When the team’s boat was badly damaged in Doha in February, they acquired the former Budweiser T-4 from Schumacher racing. That boat had not been repaired since being badly damaged in an encounter with a seawall in Detroit.
The decision was made to try to make T-4 seaworthy in time for the Sacramento race in May. A heroic effort by Scott and the crew was rewarded with podium finishes at the APBA Gold Cup in Detroit and the season ender in San Diego by second year driver Tom Thompson of Cambridge, Maryland.
After starting the season with virtually no points in the Oryx Cup, the team rebounded with a strong season and a sixth place finish in season high points.
Scott says, “We have had a very productive winter working on both of our boats. While we are going to race T-4 this year, the other boat that was severely damaged in the Qatar accident is also in the process of repair. There is no timetable for the completion of that boat as we work on it when time allows.”
The crew spent a good amount of time in the off season building up spare composite parts like rear wings, rear uprights etc. to provide more depth in the spares in the truck – a big change from the thrash to get a boat ready for the 2013 season.
Raney says, “We went completely through all of the systems and hardware and we have two race ready turbines and parts to build a third and two gearboxes ready for the season.”
Raney added, “We removed the right sponson deck off of T-4 to go inside and check the integrity of the internal structures and then built and installed a new carbon fiber deck. The boat is just about finished being prepared for paint which will begin in the next few days.”
No changes planned for the familiar Peters & May color scheme and the paint should be dry in plenty of time for the season opener in Madison this year, unlike last season where the paint literally dried on the way to Sacramento.
After a strong season in 2013, Tom Thompson will return to the driver’s seat of the 11 Peters & May for the 2014 H1 Unlimited racing season.
By Steve Montgomery – H1
Photos by Unlimited Racing Group