[BOATS] Kamakazi misses target at Temora

by Sean Henshelwood

(Archived)


After a podium result at the opening round of the Continental Tyres Australian Superboat Championships at Melton earlier in the month, the Kamakazi team of Andrew Page and Dean Finch were hopeful of a strong result at Temora for the second round of the series, although with a tighter more technical layout, it was always going to be a tough ask..

Kamakazi misses target at Temora
Rnd#2 2009 Continental Tyres Australian Superboat Championships
Lake Centenary, Temora, NSW
28 March, 2009

After a podium result at the opening round of the Continental Tyres Australian Superboat Championships at Melton earlier in the month, the Kamakazi team of Andrew Page and Dean Finch were hopeful of a strong result at Temora for the second round of the series, although with a tighter more technical layout, it was always going to be a tough ask..

“Melton suits the performance of the boat better,” former Superboat champion Dean Finch admitted. “Temora is a lot tighter and has a lot more change of direction, so it will prove a tougher task, but we’re up to it..”

Despite starting the season in Kamakazi, Finch was expected to enter Temora in his own boat, Loose Cannon, however some delays in dynoing the engine put him back in the ‘B’ seat for one more round.

“That suits me,” Pagey grinned. “The more time I can spend picking Finchy’s brain the better..”

After missing out on victory at Melton thanks to a minor fuel part problem (a pickup line broke during the top three starving the carbie of fuel and forcing a DNF), the team made some repairs ahead of Temora and expected to run trouble free..

Sadly though it didn’t work out that way..

In almost every qualifying run Finchy was across the bank somewhere looking for time, and admitted to chasing some early problems.. “We’ve got a fuel pickup problem that caught me by surprise in one of the early runs. It felt really doughy like there was nothing much going on, then all of a sudden around 400 horsepower would appear out of nowhere. I think there might be an injector issue, so we’ll make some changes and see what happens..”

After upsizing the injectors Finchy continued his climb up the leaderboard, but he didn’t avoid further complications..

“At one stage I came into the spin out pool and as I swung on the steering wheel my wrist strap caught the reverse bucket and spun me backwards up the bank.. There was no damage, but it got my attention,” he smiled.

Whilst Finchy was making a forward move on the leaderboard, boat owner Andrew Page was struggling to make the top ten..

“This year has proven a lot more difficult than last year with the number of Superboats in the field,” he admitted. “I’m improving all the time, but so too is the competition. I’m still playing it cautious, and the dramas Dean’s having are playing on my mind a bit. I’d rather play it easy than have it up the bank in a big way. We’ll sort it out though, we always have, I just hope we manage to get it sorted before the top ten..”

Unfortunately for the likable New South Welshman, the team were unable to settle the boat enough for Pagey to mount a serious attack on the lead pack ahead of the top ten; for the unflappable Finch though, no amount of craziness would curtail his assault on the leaders, his jaw dropping knife edge 44.025 good enough to put him in the five with a chance of making the top three for the second round in a row..

“Hey it’s not nice at the moment, but it’ll do.. We mounted the bank a couple of times in that run, but not enough to throw us out of the water completely.. We’ll go away and work on it for the top ten shootout and see what we come up with..”

Despite some awe-inspiring and heart stopping driving, Finchy was unable to go any faster than his qualifying heat best, dropping him to sixth overall in the top ten, but providing him more serious points for the championship.

“Next round we should be in our own boat,” Finchy confirmed. “The hull’s right and after this weekend we’ll be putting the engine on the dyno in preparation for Griffith. We’re still a part of the Kamakazi crew though, so we’ll all be working together to get both boats in to the top three.

“Pagey’s doing a bloody good job for a bloke that only started driving 12 months ago. He hasn’t put a foot wrong, and I’m here to tell you this is one of the maddest boats in the world. We’ll just keep chipping away, and hopefully by the world titles, give the Kiwis something to think about..”

From Pagey’s perspective he too was happy to end the round with a straight boat and some more valuable miles, but frustrated again to have missed the top ten; his result not a good indication of what he’s truly capable of.. “Hey I’m still standing,” he laughed. “Look, when I bought the boat I was under no illusions about just what a monster it is, it’s already tried to wipe out a couple of blokes in New Zealand that tried to tame it, but we are getting there, it’s a lot nicer to drive than it was 12 months ago. Some of that’s confidence, but some of that’s the work that Dean and the guys have done to improve it. We’ll get there I’m sure, but at the moment I’m having a blast.. What else could you do with your weekend that’s more fun than this!!?”

The Kamakazi Racing team now prepares for the third round of the 2009 Continental Tyres Australian Superboat Championships scheduled for Griffith in central-western NSW over the Easter weekend (April 10-11).

You can catch all the action from round two of the 2009 Continental Tyres Australian Superboat Championships on SBS Speedweek on April 5 (2:00pm EST - check guides) and on FOX Sports 'Inside Speed' on April 8 (8:30pm EST - check local guides for confirmation).

Kamakazi Racing are proudly supported by; Murray Basin Developments, Thomas Warburton Mildura, BOC Mildura, Big Red Capsicum and Warburton’s Discount Butchers.

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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/Demi 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/Megan Campbell (10), 12. Jody Ely (10), 12. Adam Raverty (10), 15. Glenn Roberts (7)

www.v8superboats.com.au








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