Changing out their turbo charged engine diminished their power but not the ability of Waverley hydroplane driver Ken Lupton to nearly cause an upset in the EC Griffith Cup final on Sunday.
Racing at Bacchus Marsh near Melbourne, during Friday's cup heats Lupton's American-designed "Cheetah" boat was the fastest qualifieramong the 21 boats, getting through to the final 10.
However, Lupton could hear something was off in the new engine and the crew's computer data log confirmed something was "grassy" on the tune-up.
The team had to change out to a smaller New Zealand-built engine for the finals series, rescheduled for Sunday after Saturday's weather was a blow out.
Despite having only 1300 horse power against craft that had 2500hp under the bonnet, Lupton still finished second overall, with only the Ron Burton-owned "Warlord", driven by Graham Weller, beating them in the final.
"In saying that, we were there, a lot of the Aussies were surprised."
Lupton returns home tomorrow but "Cheetah" will be staying on in Australia as the team is putting in another new engine in the machine. From there he is looking to enter a couple of other upcoming Australian hydroplane events.
