GTR Raceboats, Australia

While every pilot who pulls the visor down on his helmet sets out to prove a point on the race course, the passion for the cause with brothers Bob and David Trask is a whole heap more personal. T he Trask Brothers Racing team is based in Brisbane Australia. The all Aussie assault operates with the disadvantage of travelling vast distances to the F1 race venues in Europe and the Middle East. And to make the F1 challenge even more interesting, Bob Trask decided early on that if he was going to realise his ambition of someday becoming world champion, then it would be in a boat of his own design and one manufactured in Australia. True to his word, property developer Bob Trask has backed his bold words with significant resources to establish a state of the art F1 boat facility in Brisbane. GTR Race Boats is the brain child of Bob Trask and it is the culmination of a life time of devotion to powerboat racing. Situated in the outer northern suburbs of Brisbane is a $4 million purpose built F1 race complex as good as any in the world. GTR Race Boats has a dedicated administration block, surrounded by a factory complex that houses all facets of F1 race boat design, manufacturing, rigging and tuning. Sensibly located close to the water, Bob and David Trask are committed to testing and hit the water every week to further their development program. A tour of the GTR Race Boat factory reveals an impressive, modern complex. There are dedicated sections for each aspect of the F1 effort, ensuring each work space is pristine and free of contamination. In the area of hull design and development, Bob Trask has pioneered a number of innovations with his GTR Race Boats. The construction of the deck with removable hatches ensures that the bond between hull and deck is first rate. And in the event of any gunwale bashing on the race course, repairs can be affected quickly and easily. GTR composite hulls are laid up on site in climate controlled laminating rooms. The large staff at GTR Race Boats are specialists in their individual fields. These include boat builders, adept in composite techniques, engine builders, electrical systems specialists and so on. In a sport where minute adjustments can often be the difference between gaining 1/10th of a second in lap speed, GTR is dedicated to their task. The team is currently wind tunnel testing a scale model to better understand the aerodynamics of a F1 hull. And to properly understand the development process, every tiny change and alteration is logged and tested. That way the team are able to check their library of records and ascertain the benefits of changes made not only last week, but some years ago. A tour of the GTR race shop is an enlightening experience. The full time staff each go about their assigned tasks with an assured air of confidence. There is no undue haste or urgency. This is the stuff of meticulous preparation where thorough preparation is the lowest form of acceptable work. In addition to the race boats lavishly prepared and tuned for Bob and David Trask to race on the Australian F2000 circuit. Not surprisingly Grant is already the Australian F2000 champion in his first year contesting the class. Grant is also a multiple F3 national champion and harbours a desire to join the ranks of F1 in the future. While the majority of the effort at GTR is directed at the Trask Brothers Racing team, the company also supports many others in their racing. As authorised Mercury Hi-Performance dealers and agents for a variety of other race equipment, GTR Race Boats assists drivers with full rigs, through to parts and development. “We continue to field enquiries from all parts of the world and throughout Australia about our GTR race boats and race support services,” Bob said. “GTR may not yet have the lofty profile of some, but we believe in our design and the people who are on our team. Just keep watching us.” Bob Trask began racing powerboats in Australia in the mid 1980’s. Racing boats in a variety of classes, Bob became serious when he contested the F3 circuit then moved up to the Australian F1 circuit. While learning his craft behind the wheel, Bob also stamped himself as an individual racing his self designed and built timber tunnel hulls. A multitude of titles, championship wins and major victories filled the Trask trophy cabinet. With an eye always on the big prize, Bob started to look overseas for greater racing challenges and in 2003 he competed in his first UIM F1 event. The attraction was instant. For the 2004 UIM F1 World Series, Bob Trask launched an all Australian campaign. The team fronted with their GTR Race Boats and Bob was joined by younger brother David Trask as the second driver of the two boat team. “My goal from the outset has been to win the world F1 title,” Bob said. “We are all very serious about this objective and over the past four series, the improvement has been steady and significant.” “While we may not have bothered too many drivers on the race circuit at first, we are now at the stage where other teams regard us as a serious threat. We are regularly qualifying in the top 6 shoot out and the GTR team have been up on the podium a few times.” “We have demonstrated to ourselves that we have the engines, the props, the driving ability and the race hulls to match it with the best. What we now need to add is the consistency factor.”