[BOATS] Giustozzi and Stanley set early pace

by Sean Henshelwood

(Archived)


Adelaide’s Tony Giustozzi (Excalibur) set the early pace today in Superboats with a stunning 45.118 suggesting that he was back to his early 2008 season form. “Actually it was a pretty ordinary lap, I muffed the start after getting weeds in the grille on my first start effort – it messes with your mental preparation, so I could have done a lot better.”

Giustozzi and Stanley set the early pace..
Rnd#12009 Continental Tyres Australian Superboat Championships
McPherson Park, Melton, Victoria
7 March, 2009

Adelaide’s Tony Giustozzi (Excalibur) set the early pace today in Superboats with a stunning 45.118 suggesting that he was back to his early 2008 season form. “Actually it was a pretty ordinary lap, I muffed the start after getting weeds in the grille on my first start effort – it messes with your mental preparation, so I could have done a lot better.”

As it was for the Excalibur team, they had some reconstruction work to do after team-mate Mick Carroll’s first qualifying run, which saw him catch a tyre and put himself up the bank. “There’s a bit of panel beating to do,” Tony grinned with his trademark smile, “but that won’t stop us..”

By the close of the first round of qualifying Giustozzi held the top spot, clear of ‘Big Chief’, New Zealander Daryl Hutton (Hooters), former champion Dean Finch (Kamakazi) and reigning champion Phil Dixon, the top four separated by just over a second and a half.

The much anticipated Australian debut of Phonsy Mullans 1200bhp injected LS7 saw only a conservative run of 50.552, almost five and a half seconds off Giustozzi’s mark, the local performance specialist suggesting that data on the engine showed some pretty serious signs.. “The data is sporadic but tells us that we’re running way too lean. An old fashioned inspection tells us otherwise, so I suspect we may have a wiring loom issue.. We’ll go away and work on it and give it a bit of a shake tomorrow.”

In the 400 Class (International Group A), Slade Stanley set an awesome benchmarkof 45.657, a time that was faster than all but one of the Superboats. “I’ve done a low 44 around here so there’s room for improvement,” Stanley admitted. Despite his fustration he was almost a second faster than new world champion and arch-nemesis Nathan Pretty. “We’re just plugging around at the moment,” Pretty agreed, “we’ll see how tomorrow goes..”

Third fastest in Group A was local star Ted Sygidus, the Triple X pilot showing plenty of aggression and plenty of pace, he was just over a second off Pretty, but more than a second clear of Stingray Boats’ Tremayne Jukes, who was seconding with Stanley in Hazardous.

Fifth was Greg ‘Crusty’ Mercier in the ‘shark’ with a comfortable time, not too far off Jukes, with Robert Colman a strong sixth. Seventh was Darek Sygidus having his first ‘serious’ run as the ‘B’ driver in Triple X, turning a seriously competitive time.. “Not bad considering prior to the first run I’d had less than 15 minutes in the boat..”

Eighth and taking full advantage of Pretty’s return to the team was Brooke Dixon, the crowd favourite easing herself into the zone in preparation for Sunday’s finals.

With a revised boat and renewed enthusiasm, Grumpy dominates the 350 Class with father and son combo Mark and Jake Garlick setting the pace, Jake in fact topping the timesheets with Dad not far behind and reigning champion Brooke Lucas third in Conti-Racer. “For a number of reasons I couldn’t get my boat finished in time,” Lucas confirmed, “so Chris and John Bollins have been gracious enough to put me in Chris’ brand new Stingray for the opening round. It’s a fabulous boat to drive, but I’m a bit worried about getting it dirty, it’s immaculate..”

Saturday’s opening sessions also saw a ‘scary’ ride for the K2 400 Class team of Daniel Walton and Michael Gancarz who clipped a bank in their first qualifier and gently rolled upside down into the water, a team’s worst nightmare. Gancarz was quickly able to remove himself from his harness, whilst the safety crew was able to get to the boat within seconds and assist Walton. Despite the scare the safety crews was able to recover the sunken boat and with some minor engine work, the crew had the thing fired and ready to go again by the close of the day – they expect to be back for Sunday’s competition and raring to go..

They build them tough in Jetsprinting..

 

 




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