Brudenell: HydroFest winner wants to draw young fans

If anyone knows where Unlimited Hydroplane racing is headed, it should be Jimmy Shane.

After all, he is a rocket scientist and the sport's top gun.

Well, he builds rockets for Blue Origin, a privately funded aerospace manufacturer in Kent, Wash.

Shane, 29, drove his U-1 Oberto boat to victory in Sunday's UAW-GM Spirit of Detroit HydroFest race on the Detroit River.

Before he strapped into the cockpit, he talked about the current state and future of H1 Unlimited Hydroplane Series racing, which once drew half a million people to the Detroit River in the '60s through the late '80s.

Not Sunday, despite what was a weekend of high-drama on the river, where French Canadian driver Jean Theoret crashed and Shane dominated.

The fans were loud and proud, but only a fraction of the numbers of the good old days.

Shane, a two-time APBA Gold Cup winner and defending H1 Unlimited High Points champion, said the sport can win over new followers, but it will be a tough task.

He agrees it is up to younger drivers like him to attract a younger demographic.

"How do we reach the younger audience? That's always the tough thing — like in any sports these days," Shane said. "How to get the younger generation out of their comfort zone in front of the TV or their iPhone and out of their house. That's definitely something all motor sports needs to work on."

Shane loved the Detroit River racecourse and what the Unlimited Hydroplanes offer, but he knows it is not enough right now to keep the turnstiles clicking over.

"First, we need to realize what our marketing strategy should be and then team up with someone like Red Bull that brings in a younger demographic. Let them see the sport and get them hooked."

How?

Shane said he would be willing to even travel to Austria and knock on the door of Red Bull energy drink founder Dietrich Mateschitz and talk to him about getting involved with H1.

Mateschitz backs many dangerous and exciting sports including Red Bull Cliff Diving, Red Bull Air Races, Formula One and the Red Bull Global Rallycross, which ran at Belle Isle in July.

"I think H1 would probably spend a little money to go after that," Shane said. "I'll tell you what, I'm going to go up to Steve David (H1 chairman) and say, 'I need to book two tickets to Austria.' We need to do that for the series."

Shane is passionate about his sport.

"We are a spectacle," Shane said. "It's fast, dangerous and exciting. We don't run around for 200 laps on the same track. Our track — the water — is ever-changing. That's what makes our sport so unique. We need to team up with someone like Red Bull as a series title sponsor."

Shane wants the boats to be big, noisy and modern. He wouldn't object to the two-day Unlimited Hydroplane schedule like Detroit being condensed into four hours of racing.

"Folks these days have pretty short attention spans," said Shane, who will be attempting to win three Gold Cups in a row when the race returns to Detroit, Aug. 20-21, in 2016. "We have to grab their attention."

Drivers?

Shane wants to see more young guns get a chance to drive the thunder boats other than some of the graying veterans.

"When I was growing up around the sport, I expected the older drivers to kind of say, 'Hey, I'm kind of older and I'm done, my time has passed.' But they never did," Shane said. "Why don't they open up a seat for the younger guys? I know it's hard to let go.

"But for the benefit of the sport, it would be good for half the field of 18- to 21-year-old drivers. I think the younger generation — the new Unlimited Hydroplane fan — would relate to the drivers. Hook them."

Contact Mike Brudenell: mbrudenell@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @mikebrudenell. Be sure that you follow Freep Sports on Twitter (@freepsports) and Instagram and like us on Facebook.



