[BOATS] Shark attack on Fraser coast

by Sean Henshelwood

(Archived)


Shark attack on the Fraser Coast
7 September, 2009

After a somewhat frustrating year to date, Greg and Dorinda Mercier finally put ‘the shark’ on the podium during the Queensland championship round in at Maryborough June, taking second place behind fellow Victorian Ted Sygidus. “It was nice to finally get a result after what has been a pretty low key season to date,” Greg ‘Crusty’ Mercier admitted on the eve of the Continental Tyres Superboat series round at the same venue.

“We should be pretty competitive at Maryborough,” he grinned, “I love the place and it rewards fast drivers and powerful boats, so I think we’ll be good for a podium..”

Complete with a relatively fresh Moe Engines modified Chev powerplant and some ‘tweaks’ to his jet unit… “If I told you I’d have to kill you..” was his response to exactly what they were, the Merciers proved more than competitive from opening practice and in fact led the 400 Class timesheets early..

By the close of day one though, championship leader Slade Stanley had dropped Az U Do back to second where Crusty was facing off against state series round victor, Ted Sygidus..

“This place is a real driver’s circuit,” Crusty beamed. “You need to be smooth yet aggressive, and you need to really push the apexes; we’re talking millimetres.. Take a look at the run to the line, it’s basically two esses joined together, yet if you’re on it, you can straight line it and all but take the paint of the finish line post at the end.. It’s a real buzz..”

Despite finishing day one with P2 firmly in his grasp, the smile was gone by Sunday morning as the Merciers discovered they were unable to start the shark..

“I have no bloody idea,” was the early diagnosis, Crusty eventually determining that water was in the Avgas fuel sourced locally. “Because fuel floats on water, it’s not visible in the jerry-can, so it’s not a problem till you get towards the bottom. It looked like it might have been an electrical problem at first, but with a bit of help from Col Parish we traced it and she started… Thank God!”

In the opening round of the day Crusty threw down his best lap of the weekend; 48.182; it was quick, but still well off the earth-shattering pace of arch-rival Stanley.. “I have no idea how he does it,” Crusty shrugged. Despite the advantage held by the points leader, Az U Do was a comfortable second, although not for long, Ted Sygidus finding over a second in Q4 to jump into P2.

“We just need a little extra,” Crusty admitted as he looked to the jet unit to again provide an answer.. It came, but not until the top three.

Heading into the top ten though, Sygidus held his advantage to take P2.. Whilst the win was a foregone conclusion, notwithstanding mechanical dramas for Stanley, the battle for the remaining places on the podium would be waged between Az U Do, Ted Sygidus, old foe Brooke Dixon and former champion Rohan Smith.

Brooke Dixon set a strong early pace as has been the case all season with her fastest run coming in the top ten shootout. Rohan Smith turned in a quick lap, but could not top Dixon’s time, before Crusty went out and set the quickest time; 47.892, his fastest of the weekend.

With just Sygidus and Stanley left to run, that put the grinning ‘veteran’ back inside the top three.. “That’s more like it,” he beamed.

Crusty was up first in the final and he put together a faultless lap; 47.855 – a minor improvement on his top ten time, but slower than the time Sygidus set. He held his breath as the yellow Triple X machine hit the water, but despite an aggressive run, Ted fell just short, his 47.869 a frustrating eleven one hundredths short.. Then came Stanley..

“What can you say,” Crusty shrugged as he watched the points leader’s recorded time; 45.973.. “I could maybe find a tenth or two, but two seconds.. That guys is incredible, and short of some kind of miracle, you’d have to say that both the national title and the world title will be his.. Good luck to him.”

The Continental Tyres Superboat Championships now heads to the final round of the championship at Cabarita on September 19-20 for what promises to be one of the most exciting races on recent record.

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

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2009 Continental Tyres Australian Superboat Championships
International Group A (400 Class)
Championship points (points after five rounds of six*)

1. Slade Stanley (235), 2. Rohan Smith (197), 3. Ted Sygidus (182), 4. Brooke Dixon (175), 5. Greg Mercier/Dorinda Mercier (154), 6. Nathan Pretty (133), 7. Tremayne Jukes (151), 8. Robert Colman (130), 9. Darek Sygidus (96), 10. Daniel Walton (72), 11. Mick Manini (38), 12. Rodney Krause (31), 13. Shaun Dixon (26), 14. Greg Harriman (25), 15. Simon Zarb (15), 16. Tony Whalan (15), 17. Darren Watkins (15), 18. Kevin Laugesen (15), 19. Chris Bollins (13), 20. Shane Loughnan (10), 21. Kieran Krause (10), 22. Geoff Kunkel (10), 23. Brendan Donnelly (7), 24. Darryl Squires (5)

* championship points are calculated from the best five point scoring rounds (of six)

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