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[BOATS] Temora goes one better..
by Sean Henshelwood
(Archived)
Temora provides another stunning result
Rnd#2 2009 Continental Tyres Australian Superboat Championships
Lake Centenary, Temora, NSW
28 March, 2009
If Melton’s opening round of the Continental Tyres Australian Superboat Championships was a 9.5 on the excitement scale, Temora was well and truly off the clock! There were thrills, there were spills and for the second round in a row, a completely unexpected result, the bookies would have been forced into retirement placing odds on this one..
In Unlimited Superboats the result may have been the same with team-mates Tony Giustozzi and Mick Carroll battling Kiwi Daryl Hutton, but the circumstances were certainly different. Heading into the finals both Dean Finch and Phil Dixon were again posing serious threats to the leaders, but as was the case at Melton three weeks ago, the top ten proved a tough round to crack.
Phil Dixon was first out and in front of a huge local crowd, the new Temora promoter was desperate to get himself on the podium, a cracking 44.140 looked the goods, but as Dixon went for the spin out pool he realised that the engine wasn’t backing off power so whilst trying to kill the engine, he raced back through the pit pool at unabated speed and back up the front straight. Whilst onlookers sat stunned at what they were watching Dixon put True Blue into a high speed spin at the top of the track, the engine though still running..
“During the second half of my run I could feel something wrong, the engine seemed to be leaning out a little, but as I went into the spin out pool, the throttle cracked open full,” a surprised Dixon admitted afterwards. “I pumped on the throttle, and turned off the ignition, but the compression kept it firing. I thought ‘oh hell’ what now and elected to head for a flat bit of grass up the back of the track and throw the boat into a spin.. What we discovered in the end was that a trumpet sucked in a bit of towel and jammed the butterfly and therefore the throttle full open. It was a hell of a ride..”
After setting a stunning 42.587 in qualifying, Tony Giustozzi was next out in Excalibur, and he set another blistering lap of 42.979 to sit on top of the timesheets. Dean Finch at times looked like he may threaten the leaders in qualifying, but Kamakazi had proven a difficult beast to tame at Temora with a string of technical issues and a number of trips up the bank costing them valuable track time; for the top ten though a 44.456 wasn’t going to put him into the final three.
Phonsy Mullan was next out and after complaining early in the weekend about how evil his new boat was handling, he’d finished qualifying with a 43.628 to be classified third. “It’s not nice to drive, but it’s fast, so we’ll see what we can do in the finals,” he grinned. Sadly he too missed the cut despite a 44.194.
After destroying Hooters primary engine in the final at Melton, Peter Freckleton was forced to look for a new powerplant, purchasing Jim Bailey’s naturally aspirated alloy small block for the Temora round. With more than 200 horsepower less, but a weight saving of around 180kg, Daryl ‘Big Chief’ Hutton still managed to haul himself into the top three with a 43.166.
Not content to just play follow-the-leader with team boss Giustozzi, Mick Carroll came out in the top ten with all guns blazing to stop the clocks with a stunning 42.554 – the fastest time of the weekend, to set up another sensational top tree final.
After choosing to go last at Melton, Giustozzi this time elected to throw down the gauntlet early. He didn’t manage to top his best time of the day, but a 42.815 was a pretty competitive shot. Daryl Hutton was next out, and as he had done at Melton, he suffered an engine failure, although this time it was within sight of the flag; he still managed a 43.429. What might have been.. “I could feel it starting to go off,” Hutton admitted. “I just had to keep easing back, but with 70-80 metres to go I knew it was gone so I just coasted to the line..”
For Mick Carroll the challenge was his, but victory was made almost impossible during Giustozzi’s run after a header failure - due in part to a rushed repair - almost stopped him before he’d started. Sounding more like a four cylinder diesel than a free revving injected 510ci Chev, Carroll gave it everything he had and very nearly took the win, landing a 43.130 and a mountain of mechanical work before the next round.
“What can you do,” Mick grinned, “I had to have a go and fortunately the Kendrick built powerplant hung on. At least this time I haven’t got any panel beating to do, just mechanical..”
In Group A (400 Class) the eternal battle for supremacy between Slade Stanley and Nathan Pretty continued, but despite dominating qualifying between them, neither would make it in to the top three..
By the close of qualifying though it was Pretty who held the advantage, his best of 44.011 putting him on top of the timesheets just one, one hundredth faster than Stanley. Half a second further back was emerging challenger Ted Sygidus who was battling a slightly ill-handling boat after brother Darek made contact with the hay bales on Friday afternoon, bending the rear and underside of the hull; fortunately it wasn’t too bad,
Heading into the top ten though everything changed. Brooke Dixon was first out and she threw down the challenge with a 45.193, her best time of the weekend. Tremayne Jukes, Daniel Walton, Rob Coleman and Darek Sygidus were unable to dethrone her, but then came the shark.. Greg Mercier was driving like a man possessed and with his hulls manufacturer, five time world champion Peter Caughey watching on from the pits, he went after a podium. Opposition crews stood in the pits in awe of his bank clipping demonstration, Crusty looked set for one of the fastest times of the day, but just a few turns from home clipped one bank too many and was out of the hunt.
The smile on his face post race though suggested he wasn’t that disappointed. “Caughey told me to go out there and attack the track, so I did,” he laughed. “We just clipped the banks on either side, just skimming along them, but on the run up the back last time round it just grabbed and threw me off. Look, we were good for a podium with that run, easily, but that’s racing. We live to fight another day..!”
Rohan Smith was next out and after struggling with himself during the qualifying rounds, put the BTS Racing team straight to the top of the timesheets. “I don’t know what it is,” the 2002 Group A champion shrugged. “I’ve been at odds with myself all weekend, my driving has been atrocious. I’ve just been pushing myself and the boat too hard, so this time I took a deep breath and relaxed.”
Ted Sygidus was next out, and the crowd moved to the fence in anticipation of the one driver who never fails to entertain. Sadly for Ted he lasted just half a lap before a prop shaft failure shut him down. “I’ve never seen it before, the universals at both ends are shattered; one broke, the other actually melted, so from there it was all over.. We were on target on our data for a very low 44..”
With Ted out, and Rohan Smith just fractions of a second ahead, Brooke Dixon held her breath – she was on the bubble, but with both Stanley and Pretty to come, her hold on third was tenuous. Pretty was first out and you could see he was on a mission, but with half a lap to go he got right out of the throttle and dropped off the pace. Whilst nothing was immediately evident as a problem, on Pretty’s return he explained the loss of pace.. “Ducks.. I missed one by inches and I was travelling at over 100 kays, and that threw me so I shot down a different path, after that it was all over. It’s frustrating but what can you do?”
Pretty’s demise put Dixon into the top three, but more surprises were to come after Slade Stanley struggled to complete his lap with what appeared to be a fuel pickup problem, a faulty fuel filter later discovered to be the culprit. That left Dixon second fastest and well into the top three, and a speechless Rohan Smith heading into the final on top..
Jukes was first out in Stanley’s Hazardous which with some quick modifications was back on song. He set the bar at 45.678 with his fastest run of the weekend. Brooke Dixon was next out and despite a cautious start, quickly settled into a rhythm, stopping the clocks with a 45.056, her best time of the day. Rohan Smith went out hard and looked to have held his advantage; the crowd held their breath as the time was displayed – 45.146. The pits erupted.. It had been a fairy tale ending to a tough afternoon for the Dixon family, Brooke having witnessed her father struggle to bring his methanol breathing Superboat to a halt after a mechanical failure just minutes before hitting the water.
“I nearly fainted when I saw that,” Brooke admitted. “When I saw Dad come through the spinout pool at full throttle I knew what had happened, and my heart was in my mouth. I was so nervous going into that last run, partly because I didn’t really know what had happened and wondered whether it might happen to me. I tried to put it out of my head and just concentrate on my lap. I’m just so happy to have won.”
It wasn’t just the 400s though that had the 3000 strong crowd on their feet, the 350s too threw in a few unexpected surprises..
As he had done at Melton, Jake Garlick set the pace with father Mark not too far behind. In third though was old foe Brooke Lucas, the reigning 350 champ with a brand new Stingray hull that was so new, it was painted in black undercoat primer.. “It was either that or stay at home,” Lucas grinned. It took him a few rounds, but by the close of qualifying he had moved to within three tenths of Jake and mere hundredths from Mark.
Jake was third boat out in the top ten and he looked set for another sub-50 second lap, but within sight of the finish he lost power and speared up the bank. Standing at the ramp watching in disbelief, word returned to Mark Garlick that it was a throttle cable failure. Brooke Lucas was next out, and he showed off the start he wasn’t waiting around, stopping the clock with a 49.748. He held sway more than two seconds faster than Daniel James up until the final challenger; Mark Garlick.
Conti-Racer’s Chris Bollins too looked threatening through qualifying and was turning a stunning time during his top ten shootout, sadly for the likeable Queenslander, he too failed to finish after clipping a bank late in the lap. “The boat felt brilliant so I was pushing it pretty hard, but I just clipped the bank on the final run up to the back of the track. It’s a learning experience I suppose,” he shrugged, “but it would have been nice to bring home the points.. There’s always next time..”
Mark Garlick was the final boat out in the top ten, and he knew exactly what he had to do and pulled out all stops on his way to a 48.731, just 17 one thousandths faster than Lucas..
“That was hard work,” he grinned afterwards. “I nearly died when Jake stopped, but once I knew it was something we could fix we did everything we could to make the final. Brooke was pretty quick too, and I’m sure he’ll be a big challenger as the season wears on; it’s shaping up to be a good year.”
Whilst committed in his statement, there was concern in his voice that Lucas’ improvement might come a little bit earlier, prompting Garlick to reach deep in the final three; he did, a stunning 49.052 putting him clear of Lucas who put in his best run of the weekend for second; 49.699. Third for the second round in succession was Daniel James, the Stingray pilot’s consistency keeping him within touch of the Garlicks, however with team-mate Brooke Lucas hot on his tail, he will find himself under pressure at Griffith.
Teams now have a limited chance to prepare for the third round of the Continental Tyres Superboat Championships scheduled for nearby Griffith over the Easter weekend (April 10-11). If the first two rounds are anything to go by, it will be an absolute cracker… If you’re anywhere near Griffith over the Easter weekend, make sure you drop in to witness what in all likelihood will be one of the best events you will ever see!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2009 Continental Tyres Australian Superboat Championships
Unlimited Superboats (points after Rnd#2 of 5)
1. Tony Giustozzi (88), 2. Daryl Hutton (79), 3. Mick Carroll (78), 4. Dean Finch (70), 4. Phil Dixon (70), 6. Phonsy Mullan (66), 7. Jamie Welch (60), 8. Peter Freckleton (43), 9. Cheryl Welch (42), 10. Louise Dixon (38), 11. Paul Burgess (14), 12. Andrew Page (10), 12. Jody Ely (10), 12. Adam Raverty (10), 15. Glenn Roberts (7)
International Group A (points after Rnd#2 of 5)
1. Slade Stanley (91), 2. Nathan Pretty (88), 3. Ted Sygidus (76), 4. Rohan Smith (75), 5. Tremayne Jukes (68), 6. Brooke Dixon (63), 7. Robert Colman (50), 8. Greg Mercier (46), 9. Darek Sygidus (39), 10. Daniel Walton (22), 11. Simon Zarb (18), 12. Greg Harriman (12), 12. Mick Manini (12), 14. Brendan Donnelly (10), 14. Shane Loughnan (10), 14. Darren Watkins (10), 14. Tony Whalan (10), 18. Kevin Laugesen (5), 18. Damien O’Leary
350 Class (points after Rnd#2 of 5)
1. Jake Garlick (92), 2. Mark Garlick (85), 3. Daniel James (77), 4. Brooke Lucas (75), 5. Jamie Taylor (67), 6. Chris Bollins (60), 7. Nathan Dickenson (56), 8. Darryl Squires (46), 9. Robert Hallum (24), 10. Glenn Arundel (23), 10. David Blake (17), 12. Daryl Dickenson (21), 13. Troy McKenzie (10), 14. Shane Allen (5)
www.v8superboats.com.au
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