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[BOATS] World Championships update
by Sean Henshelwood
2009 UIM World Jetsprint Championships
Rnd#2 - Melton, VIC - pre-event update
27 November, 2009
The opening round of the 2009 UIM World Jetsprint Championships has been run and won, and despite the predicted front-runners dominating the results, there were more than a few surprises.
Typically, with a world title on offer the ante was ‘upped’ and as a result there were some serious offs.
The most dramatic was that of West Aussie Alan Carr in the brand new Sprintec hull he shares with Chris Kent. During Sunday’s third qualifier Carr cut the apex of the penultimate corner just a fraction too fine and was thrown up the island in front of the pits, rolling dramatically into and over the newly constructed catch fence, landing in the pit pool where it started to sink.
The safety crew and nearby team members were quickly on the scene extracting Carr and navigator Jo Price from the boat. Fortunately both driver and navigator are okay, although Price was initially taken to Temora hospital to ascertain the extent of pain in her foot, that has since been checked by a Melbourne specialist where it was revealed that there were no broken bones.
For Carr he believes he may have broken a toe, but once the health of his navigator was ensured, his main focus turned to repairing the boat. “Hey, I’m a left footer in footy and the toe on my right foot is sore, so I’m not to phased. The job now is to repair the boat!”
That little effort started mere hours after the accident with Stingray Racing’s Tremayne Jukes looking over the wreck and rubbing his chin. “I reckon I can fix that,” he grinned; as if he needed the challenge, but in true Jukes form, the boat was back in his Melbourne workshop Monday afternoon and apart by Monday night.
“Aluminium has memory, so you need to let it release as soon after an accident like that as possible so it doesn’t end up keeping that form,” TJ confirmed. “It should be okay, I’ve got other work commitments on Thursday so I need it finished by then.”
And finished it was. Thursday saw Carr, Chris Kent, Peter Caughey and the team putting the engine and electronics back in place in preparation for Friday afternoon’s scrutineering session. It will be amazing to see the boat back on the water on Saturday morning.
Carr wasn’t the only one undertaking repairs after Slade Stanley’s engine failed on the finish line in the final. “We sucked up some serious water during the run because of the strong westerly winds, and it seems that it’s destroyed a couple of pistons. We weren’t running as strongly as we had been through the year, so we may have suffered dramas earlier than the final, but we grabbed the win. It has already been rebuilt, we’ll just keep our fingers crossed for the weekend that it’s good enough to counter the Triple X boys.”
Slade was of course talking about Ted Sygidus who finished second at Temora and everyone knew about it, the grin wider than usual. “How’s that, one point off leading the world title race and we’re heading to our home track with a brand new state of the art Phonsy Mullan built engine. I can’t wait!”
Part of the reason for Ted’s beaming smile was the fact that he and his Triple X team-mates had set the Melton track direction, and their opposition knows that these boys like fast straights, and that’s what we’re expecting.
The horsepower element of the track direction will also suit Mullan who is waiting on a drive coupling for his ProCharger to arrive from the US. It will also work for Dean Finch who will be looking to make amends for a frustrating run at Temora. “The boat was beautiful, but the nature of the circuit showed me an area where I need to improve,” the former national champion admitted. “At Maryborough and Cabarita (at which Finchy won both finals) the track had some slower corners where I could pull the boat up and then jump on the power again. Temora was more flowing and I found it heavier to turn; it was like driving a Kenworth with two flat front tyres... I think we’ve sorted it now, and we should be back on the money.”
Another Unlimited driver who suffered dramas was reigning Australian champion Daryl Hutton who failed to finish the final after an engine flame-out. “Daryl’s more aggressive than I am so I didn’t have the drama,” boat owner Peter Freckleton laughed. “It basically suffered a pickup issue because it was late in the lap and the tank was low and that caused the engine to cough and flame out, and from there he was just a passenger as they hit the catch fence. Damage was minimal, TJ’s (Tremayne Jukes) already fixed it and the engine is fine, we’ll just add a bigger tank and the problem should be right.”
Two other local drivers struggling for form at Temora were former world and national champion Rohan Smith and one driver who always rises to the occasion during a world title challenge; Greg ‘Crusty’ Mercier.
Smith has been plagued by a ‘phantom’ electrical fault since the middle of the national season and admitted it became an issue again at Temora. “We’ve replaced things, swapped things and tested everything over and over again, and just when we feel it’s right, we’re proven wrong,” a frustrated Smith admitted. “The only option left is to replace everything because it’s just not funny any more.”
Crusty too was in a state of ‘shock’. “Yeah, it looks like it’s electrical too, but not a problem as such, it appears there was a drama with the rev-limiter cutting in too early. We tried some serious engine modifications for the finals, but they made no difference, it just didn’t make sense.” Adding weight to Crusty’s comments were his lap times, all within three tenths of a second. “We’ve had a good look at found its bark. It’s frustrating to have dropped back in the points, but we’ll regroup for Melton and see what we can do.”
Frustratingly for teams, despite early predictions of gorgeous spring weather, Melbourne’s forecast for the weekend is for showers. The one possible advantage though could be that it’s cool so the humidity will be lower, and being closer to sea level, air density will be better for the normally aspirated boats of Caughey, Pretty, Carroll/Giustozzi and in Group A. That may well see Caughey ‘come alive’ after having to work as hard as he could at Temora to counter Pretty and Hutton.
“I suppose I shouldn’t be too disappointed with my pace, I haven’t driven in anger for eight or nine months,” Caughey admitted post-Temora. “I really thought we’d post a sub-38 second lap, but it wasn’t to be. What we had was all we had. I had to push in the final though after Nathan’s time in the top six, but each run I’d try a different approach to various corners to see where I could shave time, and I knew if I had to put them together at any point I could. It was a great battle and I’m sure Melton will provide the same, especially if the likes of Finch and Mullan come alive.”
Despite his win, Caughey’s run at Temora wasn’t without its own share of dramas, the TOTAL Racing machine failing to fire in the fourth qualifying round after suffering a starter failure. “It’s just electrical,” Caughey confirmed. “It’s an easy fix, just timely, so we’ll get it right for the next session.”
Caughey’s approach to the lost session highlights an important point about the approach some drivers may take at Melton for the final round of the championship.
Unlike the national championships, there is no point scoring on the five qualifying rounds. All you need to do is set a time to make the final 12. If you do that in the opening qualifier and sit out the remaining four rounds, then so be it. Once in the 12, it’s important to make the six, from there it’s important to be fast enough to make the three, and finally, that’s where your best time must go down in order to win. Whether anyone will play this strategy, who knows, but this event will come down to just that; strategy, and it will be interesting to watch the game-play unfold.
Regardless, the event will be a huge spectacle and fireworks will ensue through both classes. It ain’t over by a long shot, and if you’re anywhere within reach of Melton this weekend, you’d be crazy not to be there.
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 this weekend (November 28-29). Scrutineering begins tonight (Friday) at Tabcorp Park in Melton at 5:00pm.
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