2011 Mark Hahn Endurance Race

2011 Mark Hahn Endurance Race was true to the previous years weather conditions; overcast threatening rain, and rough waters! The entire Rius team worked all week testing and preparing for the event and we would first like to thank all the staff: for an amazing job well done!!

Chief Mechanic Josh Paddock once again built an incredible machine that took the holeshot! Pit staff including DaraPaddock, Mark Francis, Lon Brown, Chris White, Jeff Janke, Laura Messmer, and Mistie–we all worked hard in the weeks prior to the race and in the pits, no team was as efficient in getting the job done! Big Lon and Chris had the fuel in before the seat could come off , very impressive! To all, your efforts were amazing and greatly appreciated. To our racers Nicolas Rius, Denis Belikov, and Joel Thayer you rode amazing, we know those long laps aren’t easy especially in the rough. Unfortunately things out of our control kept us from a win this year, however we all contributed to a successful team effort.

The day started with the parade lap in which the racers checked out the water conditions and returned to get started in the Le Mans style start. Nicolas took the start position for the team and was able to take the holeshotfrom the start, we flew out of the hole and were able to open up a great lead on the competition. Second in line from the first lap was team of Lee Phanand Nick Vanis, riding their Riusbuilt turbo, great job guys!

After lap 4 we came in for the first pit at which time we found the safety rope required for the event had come loose from the front of the craft and made it’s way to the back wrapping itself around the crankshaft and melting to the coupler. Our team was rushing to find a solution to get it cut away when officials made us move out of hot pits to handle the situation. Josh and Rusty Geweckerushed to rip and cut off the rope while the rest of the team tried to dislodge the debris from the drains so water could drain correctly out of the hull. Debris clogged the drains causing the hull to fill with a lot of water, ultimately the damage to the piston from the thrust on the crankshaft ended our race at lap 21as we were less than 30 seconds from first place. We made up the lap from the first pit and charged into second place, and that is something to be proud of great job Nicolas and Denis!

At each pit our team worked like a well oiled machine, after the calamity from the rope in the beginning we had a lap down! Thanks to the efforts of the riders to push hard with a wide open throttle and the efficiency of the pit crew team Rius was able to make up the lap and ultimately come back to second place before the piston finally succumbed to the damage ending our charge for the win. We worked hard to make that kind of a comeback and at the end of the day we are proud of everyone, next year we will be back!

Special Thanks to our Sponsors: Quakysense, Jet Trim, Spy, Riva, IMS, BP Conecpts, WebCamand R&D. We appreciate your support this season.!