Knight second in hydroplane class

Press, 12 July 1988, Page 41

Knight second in hydroplane class

By

JOHN HAWKINS

The Christchurch driver, Peter Knight, jnr, finished in an impressive second position in the prestigious Grand Prix hydroplane class at the world championships, held at Valleyfield, Canada, on Sunday. Knight came within 1.5 seconds of winning the event, which was won by the American professional, Howie Benz. Having qualified seventh fastest from the original 38 starters, Knight carved his way through to second place in the boat, CRC Latimer Lodge, clocking speeds of 155 m.p.h. on the straights. Knight said after the final that he had not pressed his engine during qualifying,

driving just fast enough to ensure a place in the final eight

He said that he was thrilled with the performance and that the boat had spent more time out of the water than in it during the final. Another professional, Mark Tait, of the United States, driving his boat Miss Valleyfield, was promoted to third place after a French driver, originally placed third, was disqualified for jumping the starting gun. Tait, amazingly, qualified for five finals in the various classes at the championship, which was run before a crowd of 150,000 in temperatures of 100 degrees F.