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[BOATS] Az U Do suffers misfortune at Caba
by Sean Henshelwood
(Archived)
Awww crap..
2009 Continental Tyres Australian Superboat Championships
Cabarita Beach, NSW
6-7 June, 2009
After a lengthy break since the previous round at Griffith over the Easter weekend, Az U DO Racing’s Greg and Dorinda Mercier were raring to go for the fourth round of the Continental Tyres championship and full of hope for a strong return to form.
It was a late decision by the Melbourne-based team to continue contesting the Group A class after Mercier took delivery of a 500ci Unlimited Superboat motor immediately after the Griffith round, but in the end they elected to stay with the 400 class and continue to challenge the points leaders.
“We thought about it long and hard,” Greg ‘Crusty’ Mercier admitted. “But there were a few things that Brian [MOE Engines] wanted to do with the engine before we debuted it and in the end, there was not enough time. He did make some mods to the Group A motor, and testing at the Water Sports Centre in Patterson Lakes showed me just how competitive we could be – it was a monster, probably the meanest Group A engine I’ve ever seen, so I think we can be competitive against Slade [Stanley] and Nathan [Pretty] over the remaining rounds.”
The prediction was pretty fair, ‘the shark’ sitting third after the opening qualifying session, just off the tail of pace-setter Rohan Smith and series points leader Slade Stanley.
“That felt good, we’ll see how session two goes.”
Sadly for the Crustys session two was to see ‘the shark’ packed away and retired from the event after a pushrod failure.
“Awww crap..” Crusty frowned in mock disappointment.. “We’re not 100% sure what happened, but part way through the run I could feel it drop onto seven cylinders. It looks like it’s broken a pushrod and possibly a valve, we’ll have a look when we get home and see what damage has been done.”
Fortunately for the team, dismantling the engine showed there was little internal damage, but a broken valve was revealed; Brian Cassar though was expecting to repair the 400ci Chev in time for Maryborough in just over a weeks time.
Despite the setback, a quick discussion with Slade Stanley saw the Merciers back behind the wheel for the start of Sunday’s third qualifier in ‘Hazardous’ – as ‘B’ driver in the points leading boat.
“It’s something Slade and I have had on the go for a while,” Greg acknowledged. “Normally it’s him ‘B’ driving with me, but this time that tables were turned and he was only too happy to accommodate us.
“It’s a pity in a way because we were probably competitive enough to win here this weekend in our own boat, but that’s the way it works, we’ll just see what we can recover.”
Despite a change of seat, Crusty returned to competitive times almost immediately, running well inside the top four and within striking distance of team-leader Stanley until suddenly, Hazardous too was parked with a mechanical problem..
“Low oil pressure,” Crusty confirmed. “We’re not sure why, but our weekend is over. We did look at running with the Kryptonite team to salvage some points, but they’re struggling a little too with a fuel pressure problem, so we’ll just watch the final rounds from the bar.. As you do..!”
The Continental Tyres Superboat Championships now enjoy a slight sabbatical prior to the penultimate round of the season at Maryborough on September 5-6, then the final round of the championship back at Cabarita two weeks later (September 19-20). Az U Do Racing now goes back to state level competition with the second round of the Queensland Championships scheduled for Maryborough in two weeks time (June 20-21).
You can catch all the action from the 2009 Continental Tyres Australian Superboat Championships on SBS Speedweek and FOX Sports 'Inside Speed' (check local guides and keep an eye on www.v8superboats.com.au for dates and times).
Az-U-Do Racing are proudly supported by; ACOL Creative Skylight Solutions, Moe Engines and 321 Ignition Magazine.
www.azudoracing.com.au
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