Hometown heartbreak

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DePue native Jacob Walk is towed to shore after stalling out in the 500 Hydro. (BCR photo/Chris Yucus)

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DEPUE — For DePue natives Paul Bosnich III and Jacob Walk, the first day of racing at the APBA National Championships on Friday had a bitter taste.

Both racers started their respective events strong, but equipment problems led to neither being able to earn a national championship on their hometown lake.

Bosnich appeared poised to take home the title in the 125cc Runabout division heading into the third and final heat after posting a hometown crowd pleasing second-place and first-place finish in the opening two heats.

With one heat left to go, Bosnich needed only to manage a fourth place finish to top the second place contender, Buddy Tennell of Georgia.

Bosnich managed to work his way into the fourth place spot, and was cruising toward victory when an equipment malfunction on the second-to-last lap caused his boat to stall.

“I guess a wire came loose on the ignition and it just shut the motor down,” Bosnich said. “It’s just one of those things on these little 125s they shake like crazy, and that’s what happened it just shook it loose and broke it. That’s boat racing I guess.”

Walk also felt the sting of mechanical problems during the 500 Hydro division races. He started off strong, posting a first-place finish in the first heat, before encountering problems with his throttle assembly in the second heat.

“I was going into the first turn and my throttle assembly plate broke, and it pushed my throttle and pipe all the way up to the front of the boat,” Walk said about his second-heat troubles.

Walk was able to patch things up enough to enter the third heat, and was running well for the first several laps before the problem flared up again.

“In the third heat, I screwed it all back together and tried getting her going, and the very last turn it popped straight out on me again, dead in the water.”

Walk said that in boat racing, equipment break downs happen all the time due to the high RPMs and small size of the alcohol fueled motors.

“One of the keys to winning a race is being able to finish three heats,” Walk said. “You worry about that then you worry about driving hard and getting in front. Worry about finishing three heats, or it don’t matter what you do.”

• Ladd native Dan Niesen had a rough day at the lake as well. He managed to get moving out on the water in the initial heat of the C Service Racing division, but after the race was stopped due to a timing error, Niesen was unable to get the boat restarted for either of the first two heats. He managed to get things going for the third and final heat, but stalled out in the first turn and did not finish.

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