In what has become a great battle in this year’s H1 Unlimited season—Oh Boy! Oberto and Spirit of Qatar finished one-two at the Albert Lee Cup at Seafair on Seattle’s Lake Washington last weekend.

Driving the U-1 Oh Boy! Oberto hydroplane, defending champion Steve David held off the sport’s third winningest driver, Dave Villwock in the U-96 Spirit of Qatar, throughout the five-lap final. The combination of high speed and rough water had both boats high out of the water throughout the final.

“The trick was to keep the prop in the water so it was pushing the boat, which meant you had to get the nose in the air,” said David, who increased his lead in the national high points championship to 506 points heading into November’s Oryx Cup in Doha, Qatar.

“Winning in Seattle is so special,” he added. “It’s Art Oberto’s 83rd birthday, the Oberto company is located here and we had a lot of their friends and family with us.”

A critical point in the chase for the Seafair trophy came during heat 2A. Villwock and David were relegated to the outside as a result of their victories in heats 1A and 1B. With the faster qualifying speed, Villwock drew last and started in lane six, outside of David in lane five.

The pair raced for third and fourth behind heat winner Brian Perkins in the U-21 Miss Albert Lee Appliance and J. Michael Kelly in the U-7 Graham Trucking. David survived the challenge from Villwock and the advantage gained there stayed with him the rest of day, resulting in lane one for the final.

David took the lead at the first turn of the final, and by the end of lap one he held a slim lead over Villwock. In lap two, the two 56-year-old legends continued their battle as David increased his lead slightly.

Heading into the season finale in Qatar, David has a chance to bring home a third consecutive national championship in Oh Boy! Oberto, a feat that only one other team in the history of the sport has accomplished (Pay N’ Pack, 1973-1975).

For more on the event or to check out some photo galleries from the H1 Unlimited photographers, check out www.h1unlimited.com.

Albert Lee Cup Final Results
1. U-1 Oh Boy! Oberto, Steve David, 143.2884
2. U-96 Spirit of Qatar,  Dave Villwock    142.7143
3. U-21 Miss Albert Lee Appliance, Brian Perkins, 128.4692
4. U-5 FormulaBoats.com, Jeff Bernard, 123.8311