Nineteen years ago Dave Villwock drove an unlimited hydroplane in competition for the first time on Mission Bay in San Diego and won his first race. When he takes to the racecourse on Friday to qualify the 96 Spirit of Qatar, he’ll return as the Air National Guard Hydroplane Series’ all-time winningest driver.

Villwock heads into the Air National Guard’s San Diego Bayfair leading the national high points championship and seeking his third race win of the season as the series wraps up its North America season. The 10 boats appearing in San Diego will travel to Doha, Qatar, in November for the world championships.

The driver from Auburn, Wash., is seeking his ninth win on the 2.5-mile oval saltwater Mission Bay course and considers San Diego one of his favorite places to race.

“It’s a course that pays the technician if you pay attention to the boat ride and look for speed,” Villwock said. “Lots of guys will say you can’t win from the outside (lanes). If you look at my wins there, most of them have come from the outside.”

With his chance for a fourth-consecutive national high points championship out of reach this season, 1 Oh Boy! Oberto driver Steve David is setting his sights on winning the remaining races in San Diego and Doha. A crash in the final of the season opener and David sitting out a race because of an injury took away any chance of repeating as national champions.

“We just want to win the remaining races and let the cards fall where they may,” David said.

Driver Jeff Bernard in the 5 Graham Trucking boat is looking to maintain second-place in the points standings but is facing a tough challenge from his teammate Scott Liddycoat, who drives 7 Valken.com.

Bernard has good success on the Bill Muncey Memorial Racecourse, winning in 2008 and taking second-place the previous year.

 “It’s my favorite place to race,” Bernard said. “I’m going down there to win but I want to make sure I leave for Doha still in second place in the national high points.”

 In an effort to preserve equipment for the final two races, H1 Unlimited’s Board of Directors approved a rule change for the start of heats and the final. Officials will use a blind draw and in the order the boats are drawn, the drivers will be able to pick a lane for the heat.

 The tour has been using fight for lanes to start heats and the final this season. But drivers have been running slowly prior to the start in order to secure their lanes and owners and officials wre concerned about saltwater getting into the turbine engines and doing  damage. The tour is also implementing a 10-boat overlap rule and requiring boats to maintain their lane through the first turn.

 Drivers are giving the rule change mixed reviews.

 “I think the owners should go to their drivers and tell them, ‘If you puke an engine, I’m going to find a new driver for next year,’” David said. “Put the pressure in the cockpit where it belongs.”

 Villwock said the tour had to make a change, especially with the last two races taking place in saltwater.

 “They absolutely had to do something,” Villwock said. “If we kept using the same system to start, it would have been absolutely catastrophic in terms of equipment.”

 Racing starts on Friday with the “Fast Lap Friday” qualifying session followed by preliminary heats on Saturday and Sunday. The final for the Bill Muncey Cup will take place at approximately 5 p.m. PDT on Sunday.

Expected to compete:

1	Oh Boy! Oberto	Steve David	Lighthouse Pt. FL	City of Madison, Indiana	Madison, IN
5	Graham Trucking	Jeff Bernard	Kent, WA	Ted Porter	Decatur, IN
7	Valken.com	Scott Liddycoat	Suffolk, VA	Danny, Chris & Josh Porter	Decatur, IN
11	Peters & May	JW Myers	Burien, WA	Scott & Shannon Raney	Edmonds, Wa
17	Miss Red Dot	Kip Brown	Maple Valley, WA	Nate Brown	Preston, WA
21	Tap Out	Brian Perkins	North Bend, WA	Greg & Brian O’Farrell	Maple Valley, Wa
57	Formulaboats.com	N. Mark Evans	Chelan, WA	Emily Porter	Decatur, IN
88	Degree Men	J. Michael Kelly	Bonney Lake, WA	Billy & Jane Schumacher	Seattle, WA
96	Spirit of Qatar	Dave Villwock	Auburn, WA	Sven & Erick Ellstrom	Seattle, Wa
100	Mirage Boats	Greg Hopp	Snohomish, WA	Fred Leland	Kirkland, Wa