Premiere Date: 12/21/2010
Air Times: 8:00pm EST and 11:00PM EST
Get behind the wheel and take control of the some of the largest, fastest, most powerful machines on the planet. These aren’t your average vehicles–and handling one of these rides is unlike anything else. But you need more than just a learner’s permit to take control of these vehicles…you need training, experience, and above all, guts–if you plan to sit in the Driver’s Seat.
Portions of this show were filmed at the Air Guard Championship presented by Degree Men in San Diego in September.
Posted: December 21, 2010 at 5:17 pm in San Diego.
Billy Schumacher Racing L.L.C is officially announcing that the primary driver for the U37 Miss Peters and May will be J.W. Myers for the upcoming race in Doha Qatar. Myers started the season as the primary driver but was sidelined in mid July due to the accident at the Detroit Gold Cup, where his skid fin broke loose at about 180mph sending the boat toward the pits in the famed Rooster Tail Turn. Myers did everything in his power to keep the boat away from fellow racers in the pits, at the cost of hitting the sea wall at almost 100 mph.
J.W. suffered a shattered left foot and had to undergo surgery to repair the broken bones this past summer, but has recovered very well and is ready to get back to racing. “I’m really excited about getting back in to the cockpit. Of course I wish I was getting back in to the T4 but thankfully Fred Leland had equipment we were able to borrow so we’ll take what we’ve got to work with and see what kind of results we get in Doha.” said JW when asked about his return to racing.
Jon Zimmerman started out the season driving for Ken Muscatel’s U25 but since Detroit has been serving as JW’s backup in the U37 cockpit. Zimmerman had good success in the replacement boat that Schumacher racing borrowed from Fred Leland. He finished all of the heats he competed in and made the final in Tri Cities, Seattle and San Diego. Jon Zimmerman will be on hand in Doha Qatar to serve as an available back up driver should anyone require his services. He will also be the serving as the H1 Drivers’ Representative at the Doha race site.
Posted: November 9, 2010 at 3:34 pm in Jon Zimmerman.
U-37 driver JW Myers will be racing in the O-350 class at the UIM Outboard World Championships this weekend at Lake Alfred, FL. Myers will be sponsored by Peters & May USA and will be facing the top American drivers in the 100 mph 350cc class as well as racers from Austria, Germany, England, China and Italy. Dave Holley of Peters & May USA will be in attendance as well.
Jon Zimmerman grabbed a fifth place finish in this heat, taking the U-37 into the Consolation Heat to try and make it to the final. This clip contains radio calls from Crew Chief Scott Raney.
Jon Zimmerman won the Consolation Heat to gain entry into the Final Heat. This clip also contains the audio track with radio calls from Crew Chief Scott Raney.
Jon drove the pants off the U-37 with the fastest race laps he drove all weekend to claw his way into the final heat at Seafair. Starting in Lane 2 against Kip Brown in the U-17 and N. Mark Evans in the U-57, he drove around both of them to bring one of the few bright spots of the weekend to the U-37 Miss Peters & May team…
...while son Jack races hydros in their back yard at home.
Kip Brown in the U-17 didn’t leave a lane for the U-37 coming into turn 1, forcing Jon into his roostertail. This clip shows pretty dramatically what happens inside the cockpit.
TACOMA NEWS TRIBUNE
RON NEWBERRY; Contributing writer
Published: 08/07/1012:05 am
Jon Zimmerman greeted fans with a big smile and the same line.
“Hi! How are you?” he repeatedly said.
Zimmerman, a rookie unlimited hydroplane driver from Maple Valley, was having fun in his first Seafair as a participant rather than a spectator.
He ran out of autograph cards that he signed for fans during an autograph session Friday after the first round of qualifying for the Albert Lee Cup. It didn’t seem to matter that the driver on the card for the U-37 Miss Peters & May was J.W. Myers.
“Nobody seemed to care,” he said. “I just sign whatever they put in front of me.”
Zimmerman filled in for Myers for the second consecutive stop in the unlimited hydroplane circuit. Myers broke bones in his foot during a crash at the Gold Cup in Detroit last month and is on crutches.
Zimmerman, 45, was a driver for Ken Muscatel’s U-25 team at the time of the accident and had qualified and raced in two heats at the season-opening Madison (Ind.) Regatta but didn’t drive in Detroit. Muscatel loaned out his driver to the U-37 Miss Peters & May team, and Zimmerman took advantage of the opportunity by making the final heat the Columbia Cup in the Tri-Cities.
His best lap of 141.359 mph at the Albert Lee Cup on Friday was the eighth fastest with the third and final qualifying session today.
“He’s done everything we’ve asked him to do,” said Jane Schumacher, who owns the U-37 team along with her husband, Billy. “We told him, ‘Just keep the boat right-side up.’ ”
Zimmerman, an auto mechanic who grew up in Burien, had never driven an unlimited hydroplane on Lake Washington before Friday.
“It’s exciting” Zimmerman said. “I’ve been coming to this race forever, but I’ve always been on the other side of the fence. Now, I’m over here. It’s fun.”
Jamie Nilsen returns from successful test as Bill Moore looks on...
Jamie Nilsen took five laps in the U-37 Miss Peters & May this morning, adding to his Unlimited experience after getting his first chance to drive the boat two weeks ago in Tri-Cities. With good water conditions, Jamie was able to post steady imporovements:
Lap 1: 123.427mph
Lap 2: 133.316mph
Lap 3: 137.706mph
Lap 4: 140.999mph
Lap 5: 142.115 mph
