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[BOATS] Tough weekend at Maryborough
(Archived)
Race of attrition at Maryborough
Rnd#5 Continental Tyres Australian Superboat Championships
6 September, 2009
Under blue skies and with valuable championship points and the possibility of crowning two national champions on the cards at Maryborough, the action at the Susan River Homestead for the penultimate round of the championship was hot and fast, and in some cases, too hot..!
In the elite Unlimited Superboat class, series points leader Mick Carroll failed to make the final three after ‘Excalibur’, the boat which had previously taken victory in every preceeding round this year, suffered terminal engine failure during qualifying.
“We just continued to lose oil pressure with every run, and whilst we kept filling it up, in the end I just elected to park it in case we ended up doing serious damage..” Carroll admitted.
Like Carroll, championship contenders Phonsy Mullan and reigning champion Phil Dixon also struggled to make the final, Mullan suffering an engine failure in his final ten run, the Victorian also admitting that he was suffering fuel surge problems which were hampering his efforts to match the leaders. Dixon meanwhile was quick early in the weekend, but he too suffered from mechanical woes, his final run with a tell-tale trail of white smoke suggesting his weekend was run.
Whilst some of the big names struggled, the surprise of the weekend was the much anticipated debut of 2007 champion Dean Finch’s all new twin-turbo 475 cubic-inch Chev (pictured), the Mildura native stunning everyone with the sheer raw speed of the 1600 horsepower monster.. “She’s a handful,” Finch grinned. “We stuck it on a 2000 horsepower dyno and wrecked the dyno, so we knew it was a serious engine, but we had no idea what it would be like to drive on the track - it’s awesome.”
Within a handful of laps Finch was right on lap record pace and in fact shattered the hopes and dreams of his opponents with a staggering final run during Saturday afternoon, some one and a half seconds faster than the rest of the field.. “That’ll give them something to think about,” he laughed.
Come Sunday Finch’s pace continued, much to the frustration of the surviving teams in the Unlimited class, former New Zealand champion Daryl Hutton the only other driver to get close to Finch, setting up a final shootout between the pair and West Australian pilot Jamie Welch.
Welch was first out, but despite a strong pace, a wrong direction added to his time, dropping him out of contention. Hutton meanwhile dropped his best time of the weekend to an exceptional 45.612; the crowd were on their feet.
As Finch started ‘Loose Cannon’ the crowd went silent and remained standing for what they all expected would be a memorable run; they weren’t disappointed, Finchy providing them with an incredible display of aggressive bank hopping driving to stop the clocks with a 44.527.. The crowd and the pits went mad..
“We honestly didn’t know what to expect,” Finchy grinned. “But it’s nice to bring the old girl out of retirement and take the win. It’s been a very lengthy process getting this together because there were so many unknowns, but thanks to engine builder Darren Farr we made a dream a reality.. Besides I don’t like to be just like everyone else..”
In the International Group A class the result looked to be a forgone conclusion before the event had even begun with former world champion Slade Stanley expected to dominate after the late withdrawal of 2008 world title holder and part-time V8 Supercar driver Nathan Pretty. Despite his favouritism, Stanley struggled through the early rounds with what the team believed was a fuel pump failure. He recovered though for an emphatic win, his best time of the weekend kept for the final; 45.973. Of the rest, reigning AUS#2 Greg Mercier put in his best run of the year for second, 47.855, mere hundredths faster than the man who won the state series round in June, Ted Sygidus, but both were light years behind Stanley.
“That was great, we drove the ‘wheels’ of the thing all weekend,” Mercier smiled. “There wasn’t anything left.. How we will catch Slade [Stanley] though I don’t know, he is just so fast.
“We struggled early but just kept working at it,” Stanley shrugged. “I’ve traditionally struggled quite badly at Maryborough, but I was determined to pull it off this time, so I’m rapt to be heading into the final round with a big points lead.”
After a strong early practice time, Stanley’s closest points rival Rohan Smith suffered from his own issues, an intermittent and untraceable electrical fault forcing the Victorian to watch his championship challenge fade away. “That’s motor racing,” he said. “All we can do is take the boat home, rebuild the electrical system and hope that we can win the final for any chance of challenging for the title. If there’s one thing I’ve learnt in all these years racing though, it’s that you never give up until the final flag..”
For local fans though interest was in the 350 Class and the big question was whether rising star Jake Garlick could take victory at his home track and knock out any challenge from his father Mark. “It is Father’s Day,” Mark reminded Jake with a wry grin.
As it was the Garlicks were again in a class of their own, Jake dominating early before Mark put together an almost perfect lap in the final to take victory, the margin in the end just two tenths of a second. “It was Father’s Day, so I thought I’d let him win for a change,” Jake laughed. “Look, in the end Dad had the edge on me, so full credit to him.”
Third for the weekend was Brooke Lucas, the Brisbane mechanic pushing his old foes all the way in the final, Jake just edging the reigning champion out in the end.
“We’re trying as hard as we can,” Lucas said, “and we get closer with every run, but they’ve just got an edge on us at the moment.”
Heading towards the world championships, both Garlick and Lucas are looking to ‘step up’ to the Group A class and build 400 engines in preparation for November, the trio joining Maryborough graduate and 350 stalwart Darryl Squires in a move to the internationally recognised category.
Whilst Dad may have won the battle, Jake in the end will win the war to become one of the youngest champions on record.
Unlimited Superboats
1. Dean Finch Loose Cannon 44.527
2. Daryl Hutton Hooters 45.612
3. Jamie Welch Liberator -
4. Mick Carroll Excalibur 47.902
5. Cheryl Welch Liberator 50.188
6. Louise Dixon 321Ignition 56.712
7. Phonsy Mullan Triple X Racing 2 -
8. Phil Dixon True Blue -
9. Tony Giustozzi Excalibur -
10. Peter Freckleton Hooters -
Unlimited Superboats
1. Slade Stanley Hazardous 45.973
2. Greg Mercier Az U Do 47.855
3. Ted Sygidus Triple X Racing 47.869
4. Brooke Dixon True Blue Too 48.924
5. Rohan Smith BTS Racing 49.235
6. Tremayne Jukes Conti-Racer 49.472
7. Darek Sygidus Triple X Racing 49.633
8. Shaun Dixon True Blue Too 50.176
9. Daniel Walton K2 Kryptonite 51.787
10. Robert Colman Tunna-Guts -
350 Class
1. Mark Garlick Grumpy 51.897
2. Jake Garlick Grumpy 52.112
3. Brooke Lucas Our Toy 53.007
4. Nathan Dickenson Witch Bank 53.920
5. Daniel James Stingray Racing 53.944
6. Daniel DeVoigt Devo 2 57.098
7. Colin Bellert Evil As 58.161
8. Rhiannon Dickenson Witch Way 67.400
9. Bettina Dickenson Witch Way 69.800
10. Darryl Dickenson Witch Bank -
Teams now return home for just over a week to prepare for the final round of the Continental Tyres supported national series at Cabarita Beach on September 19-20.
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