TRENTON – Local Bay City driver Gary Barber wasn't going to let anything prevent him from earning a spot on the podium at the UIM/APBA World Championships.
Gary Barber, pictured driving in the Formula Light finals at River Roar, reached the podium in Trenton at the World Championships over the weekend.
Even a sinking boat.
With the memory of a disappointing finish at the 2013 River Roar fresh in his mind, Barber overcame a series of obstacles to take third place overall in the Formula Light class (SST-45) on the Detroit River.
"I certainly had a high degree of determination this weekend," Barber said, laughing.
At River Roar, a sheering pin broke during the feature race leaving his orange No. 20 boat stalled in the water. Before the technical failure, Barber was solidly in second place behind race leader Butch Ott. He called the outcome "disheartening" at the time.
The 59-year-old APBA veteran used his skill and experience to overcome similar bad luck this past weekend at the "Roar on the River." The World Championships featured four 20-lap heats split over Saturday and Sunday with the overall leaders determined by the driver's best three out of four times.
A couple laps into the first heat Saturday, Barber's throttle pedal brook loose. Despite the setback, he finished the heat in third place and finished seventh in the second heat.
"It totally detached," Barber said. "I pushed so hard on it, it just broke off."
Barber and his team fixed the pedal for Sunday morning. The third heat featured a reverse field start, so Barber left the dock near the back of the pack in the 12th spot. He raced through the field to capture first place.
In the fourth heat, Barber needed a solid finish to guarantee a spot on the podium, but the unpredictable nature of the sport reared its head and almost made him a spectator.
"I was trying to pass a guy on the inside, and their boat spun out in front of me," Barber said. "It hit my left side and put about a square foot wide hole in my boat."
The hole was significant enough that water started pouring into the boat and he had to manage the weight and watch his acceleration to compensate.
Barber said he was fortunate the damage didn't force him out of the race immediately.
"I've been hit before, but every other time it's been a situation where the boat was left dead in the water," Barber said. "I had a tough time handling the boat after the crash, it was a lot heavier cause of the water coming in, but I managed to prevent it from sinking and finished the race in fourth place."
Mark Schmerbauch finished in first place, R.J. West was second and Barber received a trophy and medal for coming in third.
Local Bay City race announcer Jeff Doan, who also calls River Roar, was announcing the race and interviewed Barber on the podium.
"We are probably going to take the rest of the season off, and take the boat to get fixed," Barber said. "Even taking into consideration all the damage we have now, it was still worth it."