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[BOATS] Gremlins for BTS Racing...
by Sean Henshelwood
(Archived)
Gremlins for BTS Racing…
Rnd#5 2009 Continental Tyres Australian Superboat Championships
Susan River Homestead, Maryborough, QLD
7 September, 2009
After a strong start to the season, BTS Racing’s Rohan Smith was enduring a frustrating run towards the championship final, and despite contesting the Maryborough state series round in June, he struggled to make an impression on the leaders at the penultimate round of the Continental Tyres Series after suffering a litany of electrical problems.
“I just wasn’t able to make the state series podium in the end,” he admitted, “we just didn’t have the performance. During the second half of the season we seem to have lost the edge with our engine, it’s been pretty flat, so we’ll keep searching for the issue and see if we can’t rectify it before the final round.”
Sadly for Smith and navigator Owen Dyball, a lack of performance from his engine wasn’t the biggest issue on day one for the national round, starting it became the team’s number one concern.
“I don’t know what’s wrong,” Smith shrugged, “it doesn’t matter what we do or change, it won’t fire. It’s clearly an electrical issue, but we can’t find where it comes from!”
Fortunately by Sunday morning and the start of the point scoring qualifiers, the team had fired the engine and were ready to go.
“We discovered that both the onboard battery and the jump battery were faulty, yet they’d started the boat on Saturday morning. We had a quick run this morning and it’s okay, but something just doesn’t feel 100% right.”
Behind the eight ball from the start of the day’s competition after missing two valuable setup rounds, Smith managed to salvage fourth overall, but was unable to challenge the lead pack… again!
“We got to within two tenths of Greg Mercier who eventually finished second, so I thought we’d be okay, but it dropped off in the top ten shootout again, so we fell back to fourth, Fortunately Ted [Sygidus] also struggled a little despite winning the state round, so we’ve still got a good points advantage heading into the final round in a fortnight’s time.
“Realistically Slade’s got it in the bag, so it’s down to Ted and I to battle over second, and whilst I have the advantage right now, anything can still happen, I just hope we can find the mystery electrical gremlin in time…”
The final round of the Continental Tyres Superboat Championships is set for Cabarita in two weeks time (September 19-20), it’s sure to be an event to remember!
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).
BTS Racing are proudly supported by; Bearing & Transmission Supplies, Starlite Powder Coating, Complete Welding Hire & Sales, Pura Metals and Valvoline.
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/Owen Dyball (197), 3. Ted Sygidus (182), 4. Brooke Dixon (175), 5. Greg 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)
www.v8superboats.com.au
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