Testing Time At Toukley for Trask
The three boat Trask Development Corporation team looked to the Toukley (NSW) round of the F1 Superboat series as the first opportunity to support the 2008 Aussie F1 circuit. International commitments prevented all but F2000 driver Grant Trask contesting the opening round in Geelong. 
'Bob Trask corners - 2008 F1 superboats at Toukley'
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The Toukley round proved challenging on all fronts. Bob Trask was all geared up and set to run his F1 rig as was son Grant in his F2000 boat. But Dave Trask decided to sit out the round and go fishing instead.
"Dave was keen to race, but with four of our F1 GTR hulls overseas, we didn't have a spare boat in Brisbane available that was rigged to our world F1 specs," Bob Trask said.
"Dave is going exceptionally well on the world series and he didn't want to have to risk upsetting his driving style by racing any boat that is not set up the same as his world F1 boat."
The weekend of competition began well for the Trask father & son team with Bob talking pole in the F1 class and Grant taking pole by a whopping two seconds in the F2000 division.
Come race time Bob Trask was on pole with a clear run to the first turn. Bob Trask hit the first turn locked in battle with Shane Vella who had made a blinding start off the dock. A battle royal ensued over the next 15 laps with Shane Vella able to get ahead down the straights with Bob Trask closing up on the turns. The race came to a premature end with a back running rolling on the penultimate lap.
With the TDC pit crew working to find some top end speed between the first and second heats, Bob Trask clearly had his work cut out. The second heat got away to a similar scenario as the first, with Bob Trask chasing hard from the outset. On the opening lap Bob Trask came to halt, having sheared a blade of his four blade racing prop.
Fortunately for Bob Trask the red flags came out at the same time as the prop let go, with a boat disabled on the racing line. A swift prop change and the number 19 TDC boat was ready for the re-start.
This time Bob's race lasted not much longer than the opening stanza. Running hard along the back straight, the TDC boat suddenly stopped in a massive shower of spray coming from the back of the boat. The engine had blown, locking up in the process. The result was a DNF in heat two.
Back in the pits, the race team again worked feverishly removing the busted powerhead and fitting a fresh unit. Bob was ready in time to contest the third heat only to experience a second blown powerhead on the opening lap. Bob sat the race out on the sidelines dejectedly watching the action. 
"We thought that the weekend would have turned out much better for us than it did," Bob said. "We came to Toukley trying a few things on the rig and obviously they didn't work. Full marks though to Shane Vella though - he was very fast this weekend."
This left Grant Trask with the opportunity to do justice to the Trask family name. And he did so with great distinction.
Contesting the F2000 class, Grant races a GTR hull powered by a Mercury SST 120 race engine. After taking pole position in qualifying by a full 2 seconds, Grant set about a total clean sweep of the three heats coming home in first place in each race. 
"Grant is developing into an excellent driver," Bob Trask said. "I watch his driving every time he is on the water and I've got to hand it to the kid, he can drive!"
The TDC team now heads back to Brisbane to re-group. A new hull is under construction for Dave Trask to race on the Australian circuit. And the team has the task of getting gear together for the next round of the UIM World F1 series to be contested in Finland on June 8th.
The next round of the 2008 UIM F1 World Championship is to be contested in Finland on June 8th.
Trask Brothers Racing will not be contesting the next round of the Australian F1 Superboat series to be conducted at Newcastle NSW on June 15th due to racing commitments in Russia on the same weekend. The next Australian F1 Superboat round contested by the TDC team will be at Port Macquarie July 13th.
www.bobtraskf1.com
by Trask TDC media 
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Macquarie Island, TAS
