[BOATS] Caughey and Stanley strike gold

by Sean Henshelwood



Situation normal, Caughey and Stanley on top
Rnd#1- 2009 UIM World Jetsprint Championships
Temora,New South Wales (Australia)
22November, 2009

After an incredible day of competition for the opening round of the 2009 UIM World Jetsprint Championships, the cream has risen to the top with reigning world champion Peter Caughey (NZ) taking first blood in Unlimited Superboats, in the end, comfortably clear of reigning Group A world champion Nathan Pretty, himself now a challenger in the elite division..

In the International Group A class, reigning Australian and former world champion Slade Stanley was just too good, although an engine failure on the line at the close of the top three caused some concern. “She’ll be right next week,” Stanley’s engine builder Brian Cassar [MOE Engines] lamented. “I think the intense cross wind in the final blew water into the air intake and down into the engine; it looks like it’s dropped a piston. We’ll fix it for next weekend.”

For Stanley he admitted he’d felt a problem coming on during the run, but despite the ‘hiccup’ the Wagga local still set the fastest time in the final.

It had been a day of high drama starting from the early qualifying sessions with the biggest wreck witnessed on the Australian circuit this year after West Aussie Alan Carr came unstuck on the final run to the line in the third qualifier. “I just glanced the bank on the final corner and it threw me completely off line and I had nowhere to go,” he admitted afterwards. “It happened so quickly that I just closed my eyes and hoped it didn’t hurt. When it seemed to be quiet I opened them again and saw sky, dirt, sky, dirt…”

Sadly for Carr and navigator Jo Price, the brand new Peter Caughey built Sprintec was all but written off, the boat coming to rest right side up in the water but quickly sinking. Fortunately the safety crew were on hand to extract them and both were shaken but fortunately able to ‘walk away’, the build of the boat testament to what is required in modern day motorsport.

Whilst Carr and team-mate Chris Kent were reflective on their chances of attending the second round of the championships, local Stingray boats manufacturer Tremayne Jukes wasn’t convinced they should return home early. “I reckon I could fix it well enough to have it on the water next week no problem, and I’ve offered my factory and help to Peter Caughey and the team on the off chance they can get the parts they need to do the job. It will be a big ask, but it’s a pity to come all this way for the biggest event of the season and go home with little to show but a broken boat.”

Carr wasn’t the only casualty of the weekend, although he was the most spectacular. A number of boats came out of the water looking for those elusive hundredths of a second, including two of the biggest, Dean Finch and Daryl Hutton; Finch because of a stuck throttle, reminiscent of Phil Dixon’s similar run at the same venue earlier in the year. “I don’t know what happened,” Finchy grinned (which appears to be his signal of all things good or bad), “so I had to throw it up the bank. It was a wild ride and I came down the straight towards the finish line wondering how it would all end up, but there’s no serious damage, just a niggly little problem to fix for next week.”

Sadly the issue cost the former national title holder a chance to advance to the top six shootout which would end up being a battle royale between Caughey and Pretty.

Both drivers had set times in the 39 second bracket, and by the completion of the top six they were separated by just a quarter of a second, Caughey top qualifying with a 39.643, Pretty second with 39.902. Joined by Hutton in the final, the battle for the top spot on the podium became a two-horse race after Hutton had a flame-out with their new 440ci supercharged small block in the final stages of a very quick lap, throwing him into the catch fence separating the pit pool from the track. Neither he nor navigator Yvonne Maxwell were hurt, but their day was run.

“Freck (boat owner Peter Freckleton) had a drama in his top 12 run with an injector line, and I think we may have suffered a similar fate,” the popular Kiwi shrugged. “I don’t know that we could have taken the leaders but we would have given it a real good shake… Now it’s on to Melton.”

In the final Pretty was first boat out and in typical fashion the V8 Supercar star improved his time to a 39.888. Caughey knew he had to find something special and he duly delivered, putting the TOTAL Racing Sprintec around the circuit ina 38.950, the crowd went crazy in appreciation, it was a flawless lap.

“What a day,” he admitted afterwards. “I predicted a sub 38 today but the conditions weren’t there. Nathan got close but I’d been working on different places on the track where I could gain time with each session knowing I could string them together if I had to, and I had to!”

In Group A it really was a matter of who would place second to Slade Stanley.

There were a number of contestants, but in the end it was reigning AUS#3 Ted Sygidus who stepped up alongside Kiwi ‘veteran’ Reg Smith (veteran by way of his title as the only driver in the world who has attended every UIM sanctioned Jetsprintworld championships since its inception).

More to come tomorrow…

SBSSpeedweek Unlimited Superboat
(pointsafter one round of two)

1. Peter Caughey (NZ) – 40
2. Nathan Pretty (VIC) – 39
3. Daryl Hutton (NZ) – 38
4. Mick Carroll (SA) – 37
5. Duncan Wilson (NZ) – 36
6. Tony Giustozzi (SA) – 35
7. Dean Finch (NSW) – 34
8. Jamie Welch (WA) – 33
9. Andrew Page (NSW) – 32
10. Leighton Minnell (NZ) – 31
11. Peter Freckleton (NSW) – 30
12. Richard Burt (NZ) – 29
13. Jody Ely (VIC) – 28
14. Pat Dillon (NZ) – 27
15. Adam Raverty (VIC) – 26
16. Louise Dixon (VIC) – 25
17. Cheryl Welch (WA) - 24
18. Paul Burgess (ACT) – 23
19. Phonsy Mullan (VIC) - 22 

QTR– Tyre Professionals International Group A
(points after one round of two)

1. Slade Stanley (NSW) - 40
2. Ted Sygidus (VIC) – 39
3. Reg Smith (NZ) – 38
4. Brooke Dixon (VIC) – 37
5. Darek Sygidus (VIC) – 36
6. Chris Farr (WA) – 35
7. Jake Garlick (QLD) – 34
8. Shaun Dixon (VIC) – 33
9. Greg Mercier (VIC) – 32
10. Rohan Smith (VIC) – 31
11. Baden Gray (NZ) – 30
12. Bevin Muir (NZ) – 29
13. Robert Colman (VIC) – 28
14. Andrew Guthrie (NZ) – 27
15. Chris Bollins (QLD) – 26
16. Mark Garlick (QLD) – 25
17. Tremayne Jukes (VIC) – 24
18. Daniel Walton (SA) – 23
19. Rodney Krause (NSW) – 22
20. Damian O’Leary (SA) – 21
21. Mick Manini (VIC) – 20
22. Brooke Lucas (QLD) – 19
23. Chris Kent (WA) – 18
24. Greg Harriman (QLD) – 17
25. Phil Wheelans (NZ) – 16
26. Blair Gibbard (NZ) – 15
27. Shane Loughnan (VIC) – 14
28. Darryl Squires (QLD) – 13
29. Alan Carr (WA) – 12
30. Kieran Krause (NSW) – 11 

Rnd#2 of the 2009 UIM World Jetsprint Championships is scheduled for Melton in Victoria in one weeks time (November 28-29).




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