# 2015 H1 Unlimited season

The 2015 H1 Unlimited season is the sixtieth running of the H1 Unlimited series for unlimited hydroplanes, sanctioned by the APBA. It will be the first time since 2009 that the series will have no sanctioning from the UIM.

## Teams and drivers

In 2015, all boats used Lycoming Engines with the exception of the U-3 Go3Racing team which used an Allison V-12 engine and the U-18 Bucket List Racing team that used a smaller T-53 Lycoming turbine engine.
| No | Engine | Team | Owner | Driver | Rounds |
| U-1 | Lycoming T55 | Oh Boy! Oberto | City of Madison | Jimmy Shane | All |
| U-3 | Allison V-12 | Go3Racing | Ed Cooper | Jimmy King | 2 |
| U-5 | Lycoming T55 | Graham Trucking I | Ted Porter | J. Michael Kelly | All |
| U-7 | Lycoming T55 | Graham Trucking II | Ted Porter | Jesse Robertson (R) | All |
| U-9 | Lycoming T55 | Red Dot/Les Schwab | Mike and Lori Jones | Scott Liddycoat | 4 |
| GBR11 | Lycoming T55 | Miss Peters & May | Scott and Shannon Raney | Tom Thompson | All |
| U-12 | Lycoming T55 | Miss Diljulio | Jay Leckrone and Denise Garl | Patrick Sankuer | All |
| U-18 | Lycoming T53 | Bucket List Racing | Kelly Stocklin | Kelly Stocklin | 4 |
| U-21 | Lycoming T55 | Lakeridge Paving | Greg and Brian O'Farrell | Brian Perkins | 4 |
| U-22 | Lycoming T55 | Webster Racing | Steve and Sue Webster | Mike Webster | 4 |
| U-27 | Lycoming T55 | Wiggins Racing | Milt and Charley Wiggins | Cal Phipps | 4 |
| U-96 | Lycoming T55 | Elam Plus | Erik Ellstrom | Jean Theoret | 4 |
| U-100 | Lycoming T55 | Leland Unlimited | Leland Unlimited | Kevin Eacret | 4 |

## 2015 Season Summary

The 2015 season began with the 65th annual Madison Regatta held in Madison, IN on July 3–5. Race officials battled high waters and floating debris on the Ohio River the entire weekend. Because of debris, race officials opted for a series of two- and three-boat shootouts instead of the usual four-boat heat races. In the final — reduced from five laps to three — J. Michael Kelly, driving the U-5 Graham Trucking boat, won for the second straight year. The formatted Madison Regatta will not count toward the national points race.
The 2015 Coeur d’Alene Silver Cup, scheduled to be held on July 17–19, was cancelled in April.
The second race of the season (and the first official high points race) was the APBA Gold Cup held at Tri-Cities, WA on July 24–26. Jimmy Shane in the U-1 Oberto captured the 2015 Gold Cup Championship after officials checked the video and saw that Jean Theoret in the U-96 Ellstrom Elam Plus went into an area called the DMZ and was disqualified from the championship heat. In what looked to spectators like a battle for second and third between Shane and J. Michael Kelly in the U-5 Graham Trucking, Shane and Kelly battled deck-to-deck for all five laps for the championship with Shane edging Kelly by the smallest of margins.
The third race of the season was the Albert Lee Appliance Cup at Seafair held at Seattle, WA on July 31-August 2. Michael Kelly driving for Graham Trucking earned his second straight Albert Lee Cup victory at Seafair Sunday. He beat Jimmy Shane driving for Oh Boy! Oberto after their boats bumped in the final lap and Shane was penalized. Jean Theoret in the Ellstrom Elam Plus placed second, and Scott Liddycoat in the Les Schwab/RedDOT took third.
The fourth race of the season was the UAW/GM Spirit of Detroit Hydrofest held at Detroit, MI on August 22–23. Jimmy Shane, in the U-1 Oberto, thrilled the crowd in the seven-boat, five-lap final which included a side-by-side battle with J. Michael Kelly all the way down the backstretch on the next-to-last lap. Shane beat Kelly by seven-boat lengths. Brian Perkins finished third, followed by Cal Phipps and Scott Liddycoat.
The final race of the season was the San Diego Bayfair on September 18–20. For the third straight year Jimmy Shane won the H1 Unlimited Hydroplane national championship, wrapping up the title early on the final day of the 2015 San Diego Bayfair at Mission Bay. In the final, Shane dominated the way he had all weekend and polished off his perfect Bayfair performance with his second Bill Muncey Cup victory in the last three years. Scott Liddycoat, driver of the So. Call 811/Red Dot/Jones Racing boat, finished second in the final while Cal Phipps, driver of the Dalton Industries/Wiggins Racing boat, finished third. Oberto announced that this season was its final season as a title sponsor for an H1 Unlimited boat. The Miss Madison boat, which is publicly owned by the town of Madison, Ind., will continue racing next season under a different title sponsor.

## Season Schedule and Results

2015 H1 Unlimited Hydroplane Race Winners :
| Race title | Location | Date | Winning Boat | Winning Driver |
| Indiana Governor's Cup (Madison Regatta) | Ohio River, Madison, Indiana | July 3–5 | Graham Trucking I† | J. Michael Kelly† |
| Silver Cup | Coeur d'Alene, Idaho | July 17–19 | Event cancelled | Event cancelled |
| HAPO Gold Cup | Columbia River, Tri-Cities, Washington | July 24–26 | Oh Boy! Oberto | Jimmy Shane |
| Albert Lee Appliance Cup | Lake Washington, Seattle, Washington | July 31-August 2 | Graham Trucking I | J. Michael Kelly |
| UAW-GM Spirit of Detroit Hydrofest | Detroit River, Detroit, Michigan | August 22–23 | Oh Boy! Oberto | Jimmy Shane |
| San Diego Bayfair | Mission Bay, San Diego, California, California | September 18–20 | Oh Boy! Oberto | Jimmy Shane |
†: Due to debris in the river as a result of recent rains, the course was shortened and was run as a non-championship exhibition race.

## National High Points Standings

2015 High Points :
| Place | Boat # | Boat | Driver | Points |
| 1 | U-1 | Oh Boy! Oberto | Jimmy Shane | 6,560 |
| 2 | U-5 | Graham Trucking I | J. Michael Kelly | 5,463 |
| 3 | U-27 | Wiggins Racing | Cal Phipps | 4,735 |
| 4 | U-9 | Red Dot/Les Schwab | Scott Liddycoat | 4,703 |
| 5 | U-21 | Lakeridge Paving | Brian Perkins | 3,603 |
| 6 | U-3 | Go3Racing | Jimmy King | 3,107 |
| 7 | U-96 | Elam Plus | Jean Theoret | 2,783 |
| 8 | U-100 | Leland Unlimited | Kevin Eacret | 2,669 |
| 9 | GBR11 | Miss Peters & May | Tom Thompson | 2,511 |
| 10 | U-7 | Graham Trucking II | Jesse Robertson | 2,435 |
| 11 | U-22 | Webster Racing | Mike Webster | 1,482 |
| 12 | U-12/12R | Miss Diljulio | Patrick Sankuer (0) David Warren (691) | 691 |
| 13 | U-18 | Bucket List Racing | Mark Evans (169) Kelly Stockton (0) | 169 |