[V8SB] Heading north for the winter

by Sean Henshelwood



After a season-opening double-header at Temora in central-western New South Wales over the Easter weekend, the 2011 Tyreright Australian Superboat Championships heads north to warmer climes for the first of a number of events scheduled for the popular Tweed Coast jetsprint [V8 Superboat] facility.

Heading north for the winter…
Rnd#3 Tyreright Australian Superboat Championships
Tweed Coast (Cabarita Beach), NSW
June 26, 2011

After a season-opening double-header at Temora in central-western New South Wales over the Easter weekend, the 2011 Tyreright Australian Superboat Championships heads north to warmer climes for the first of a number of events scheduled for the popular Tweed Coast jetsprint [V8 Superboat] facility.

Competitors are entered from right across the country, with teams from Western Australia, South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria joining a string of ‘local’ drivers from around the Brisbane area, all converging on the Tweed Coast on Sunday, June 26.

The Tweed Coast venue will resonate to the sound of Superboats with as much as 1600 horsepower, not bad for a ‘boat’ that accelerates to over 100km/h in under two seconds and corners with G-forces usually reserved for Formula 1 drivers or the Air Force elite, all in two feet of water on circuits that are often no wider than two boat widths.

Three classes constitute the Tyreright Australian Superboat Championships; 350 Class and the two internationally recognised categories, Group A (aka 400 Class) and Unlimited Superboat.

Australia is currently the world leader in V8 Superboats, holding the Group A trophy with dual world champion Slade Stanley. Stanley, a Wagga (NSW) based-builder was one of the big challengers for the 2010 Unlimited Superboat Australian Championship, but was forced to campaign a borrowed boat after graduating from the Group A class in 2009 (he won both the world and Australian titles). He was expected to be an outright challenger again this year, but has struggled to finish his all new boat and twin-turbo Chev powered combination in time for Cabarita’s June round, but is hoping to mix it with the series leaders when the championship returns to the Tweed Coast in August [28th].

Despite Stanley’s absence, the fight for the championship points lead in the Unlimited Class for 2011 has proven no less competitive, with 2007 champion Dean Finch battling with reigning two-time champion, New Zealander Daryl Hutton. Hutton faced stiff competition from Stanley in 2010, but came through to win the final round and the championship, however his job was made easier after pre-season favourite Dean Finch suffered a major engine failure at the opening round and spent the season rebuilding his unique twin-turbo Chev 475ci powerplant.

This season though Finch has been a comfortable pace-setter, at times more than a second faster than the chasing pack, with Hutton forced to battle emerging contender, 2008 Group A Champion Phonsy Mullan, who after two seasons of campaigning a supercharged Chev LSX engine, has also switched to twin-turbo injection.

Throw in returning multiple national champion Phil Dixon, former Group A world and Australian #2 Greg Mercier, and former Cabarita race winner Mick Carroll, and you have what is arguably the best field assembled in the world of jetsprinting, all converging on Cabarita Beach this June..

Whilst you could be forgiven for being satisfied with the competition in the Unlimited class, it is no less intense in Group A, with Melton (Victoria) based brothers Ted and Darek Sygidus doing battle for outright honours against the ‘first-lady’ of world jetsprinting, reigning world #2 Brooke Dixon. Dixon has been a winner at Cabarita in the past, and uses cunning and finesse as her weapons of choice, against the sheer aggression and bulk horsepower of the Triple X team campaigned by the Sygidus boys. Like the Unlimited class though there are emerging stars looking to dethrone all three. Melbourne’s Tremayne Jukes has been the ‘coming man’ of the Group A class in 2011, and as the only Australian boat manufacturer to campaign a Superboat against the strength of the New Zealand built boats, he has a point to prove and is desperate for his first round win.

Maryborough’s Jake Garlick too is emerging as an outright threat, campaigning Greg Harriman’s beautiful 321Ignition boat, the Queenslander is finally in newer equipment than that which took him to the 2009 350 Class national crown.

Speaking of 350 Class, the series’ introductory category is being dominated by Queenslanders, with local drivers holding the national title in three of the last four seasons. They look like doing it again in 2011 as the Tweed Coast’s Daniel deVoigt goes looking for his maiden championship victory. If his performance in the opening two rounds of the championship are anything to go by, it would take a miracle for him not to be crowned Australian Champion.

That won’t stop his opponents though, with a number of southern competitors looking to steal his thunder, whilst for the June round, it appears there will be an influx of teams from Western Australia eager to try their hand at competing against the best drivers on the planet..

The Tyreright Australian Superboat Championships will be at the Cabarita venue on the Tweed Coast on June 26 for round #3 of the championship, with round #4 also scheduled for the Tweed Coast on August 28.

For more information keep up to date with www.v8Superboats.com.au

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Championship points (after two rounds of six)
Unlimited Superboat
1. Dean Finch (126 points), 2. Daryl Hutton (122), 3. Phil Dixon (99), 4. Phonsy Mullan (92), 5. Jamie Welch (89), 6. Greg Mercier (80), 7. Adam Raverty (74), 8. Jody Ely (68), 9. Cheryl Welch (51), 10. Tyler Finch (43), 11. Glenn Roberts (37), 12. Paul Burgess (30), 13. Andrew Page (24)

International Group A (400 Class)
1. Darek Sygidus (127 points), 2. Ted Sygidus (126), 3. Brooke Dixon (104), 4. Tremayne Jukes (91), 5. Jake Garlick (83), 6. Rob Colman (82), 7. Damian O’Leary (72), 8. Shane Loughnan (63), 9. Rodney Krause (59), 10. Greg Harriman (49), 11. Kieran Krause (35), 12. Mick Manini (33), 13. Brooke Lucas (27), 14. Kevin Laugesen (21)

350 Class
1. Daniel deVoigt (132), 2. Troy McKenzie (110), 3. Brett Thornton (105), 4. Shane Allen (78), 5. David Blake (69), 6. Robert Hallum (65)

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The 2011 Tyreright Australian Superboat Championships will be televised on SBS Speedweek and Foxtel’s SPEED Channel (Channel 505) - check guides and www.v8superboats.com.au for times.

Entries Rnd#3 Tyreright Australian Superboat Championships
Tweed Coast (Cabarita Beach), NSW - June 26, 2011

350 Class - A
86 • Devo 2 (Daniel deVoigt/Vicki Burrell)
53 • Obsession (Brett Thornton/tba)
69 • Mitzabanks (Shane Brennan/tba)
74 • Evil As (Mark Garlick/Kerry Garlick)
92 • Stingray Racing (Daniel James/tba)
98A • Witch Way (Betina Dickenson/tba)
99A • Predator (Troy McKenzie/tba)
666A • Under Suspicion (Michael Darwen/Gavin Page)

350 Class - B
98B • Witch Way (Lauren Dickenson/tba)
99B • Predator (Shane Allen/tba)
666B • Under Suspicion (Ed Owen/Amanda Ingram)

International Group A (400 Class) - A
11 • Our Toy (Brooke Lucas/Carol Russell)
12 • Hi Tec Oils (Brooke Dixon/Cassie Lack)
19 • Stealth (Tremayne Jukes/tba)
23A • Triple X Racing (Ted Sygidus/Yolanda Low)
37A • Soak’n Fused (Rodney Krause/Hayden Krause)
39 • Silver Bullet (Kevin Laugesen/Kirsty Lawson)
55 • Cool Bananas (Mick Manini/tba)
63 • Witch Bank (Nathan Dickenson/Mathew Dickenson)
66 • AirRated (Brad Marsden/Blake Highland)
77 • Tunna Guts (Rob Colman/tba)
79 • Kryptonite Racing (Damian O’Leary/tba)
96 • Mongrel (Peter Monger/tba)
321A • 321Ignition (Greg Harriman/Kloe Gutsche)

International Group A (400 Class) - B
23B • Triple X Racing (Darek Sygidus/David Gill)
37B • Soak’n Fused (Kieren Krause/Courtney Krause)
321B • 321Ignition (Jake Garlick/Amy Harriman)

Unlimited Superboat - A
10A • Auspro (Phil Dixon/Leanne Rake)
22A • Skywest Racing (Jamie Welch/Demi Garlick)
23S • RAM-JET (Phonsy Mullan/Bill Biggin)
27 • AzUDo (Greg Mercier/Emma Wilkinson)
28 • Team Solo (Peter Freckleton/tba)
32A • Loose Cannon (Dean Finch/Demi Finch)
33A • Jackhammer (Jody Ely/tba)
169 • Kamakazi (Andrew Page/tba)

Unlimited Superboat - B
10B • Auspro (Louise Dixon/Karen Symes)
22B • Skywest Racing (Cheryl Welch/Adrian Kemp)
28 • Team Solo (Daryl Hutton/Shirl Rickard)
32B • Loose Cannon (Tyler Finch/tba)
33B • Jackhammer (Adam Raverty/tba)

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How to get there..

The Tweed Coast jetsprint facility (Round Mountain Raceway) is located on Round Mountain Road, Cabarita Beach, 10 kilometres south of Tweed Heads.











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