David Degwara was an Australian boat racer. He participated in the 1994 Australia Formula One Powerboat Championship, and returned the following season as a member of the fellow Shell Marine Racing Team. Michael Page was to be Degwara's team mate, racing the other boat sponsored by Shell Marine. Degwara's boat, named "Pace and Power", was made of an outer shell of plywood but incorporated a safety cell, made of composite materials, to protect the driver.
On Friday, 31 March 1995, Degwara and Page performed high speed demonstration laps for the launch of the 1995 Formula One Powerboat Grand Prix at Port River, a branch of a tidal estuary at the shores of Adelaide, South Australia. Days before Degwara had said that he liked the circuit, as it was long and fast. A large crowd watched the boats as drivers practiced for the upcoming Formula One Grand Prix.
During one of the laps Degwara's boat appeared to swerve left to avoid the end of the wooden wharf but failed and ploughed into a pylon. The machine was traveling at approximately 200 km/h (124 mi/h) at the point of impact. Emergency crews were on the scene of the accident within seconds, but Degwara could not be saved. The unfortunate Degwara was thirty-four years old.
R.I.P
