The Gee Bee R-1 won the 1932 Thompson Trophy Race which was a pylon race and not a cross country race. Boardman was killed in the 1933 Bendix race, not the '33 Thompson. The Bendix race was the cross country one. The Gee Bee R-1 and R-2 aeroplanes were not 'killer' machines, but were built with expert aviators in mind, not Cub pilots.