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[V8SB] The great equaliser!
by Sean Henshelwood
The great equaliser!
Review: Rnd#3 2011 Tyreright Australian Superboat Championships
Tweed Coast (Cabarita Beach), NSW (June 26)
After the season opening double-header at Temora over Easter, the big question on everyone’s lips was whether anyone could stop former champion Dean Finch from dominating the Unlimited Superboat class.. As it turns out, not only did the opening event of the season on the Cabarita Beach - Tweed Coast layout play havoc with the Unlimited Superboat championship points table, it played havoc with just about everyone entered.
There was a strong list of competitors for the first northern event of the season, and in pleasing news for the 350 Class, a number of returning, along with a number of new faces [to the east coast at least, two new teams coming across from the west to try their luck] added to the list; the highest profile, reigning champion Daniel James.
Sadly for James, his return to the class he dominated in 2010 ended after just one session with a broken conrod. “That’s it unfortunately,” Stingray team-boss Tremayne Jukes confirmed. “It’s all over, but it’s not all bad news, team engine builder Malcolm Church has agreed to help Daniel build a 400 to replace it, so the Stingray assault on the Group A title just got stronger.”
With James out, the battle ensued between points leader and 2010 runner-up Daniel deVoigt, and 2007 champion, Mark Garlick, although this time Mr and Mrs Garlo were looking a little purple, and not their normal shade of ‘Grumpy’ green..
“Col Bellert asked me to jump into his ride and give it a tweak,” Garlick admitted, clearly keen to be back behind the wheel in a class he knows intimately. “We’ve been assisting him for a while, but there’s never a better way to sort something than to drive it yourself, and it’s actually pretty good.”
Clearly it was, as between them deVoigt and Garlick shared the wins in qualifying rounds, with ‘DEVO2’ up 2-1. It was close though, just one or two hundredths per session.
Holding down third was Queensland rookie Brett Thornton who continues to impress in his debut season, with West Australian Michael Darween (Under Suspicion) battling series regular Troy McKenzie (Predator) for fourth.
At the pointy end though it was a two boat race, with nothing separating Garlick and deVoigt coming into the final. Daniel dug deep to pull out a two tenth improvement, but the cunning ‘old dog’ Garlick found six tenths to take victory by just four tenths of a second.
“That was a great day of racing,” deVoigt admitted. “It was a pity to see Daniel [James] go out early, because I wanted to see how close we were to his times, as he was the standout benchmark last year and I think this year I’ve improved quite a lot. We had it tough anyway with Garlo, who is one of the all time legends of 350s, and he’s always hard to beat, so I’m happy to have been so close to him all weekend. The important thing though is we’ve bagged more valuable championship points.”
After a couple of fast sweeping runs at Temora, competitors were greeted at Cabarita with a long lap of multiple rotations on a circuit that had only recently been cleaned up, with excavators digging out areas that had filled in with the battering provided by the immense amount of water that came through the area earlier in the year. What the cleanup also did was change the dynamics of the track, which meant that areas where time may once have been gained by shaving a bank, you could now find yourself sitting inverted on top of said bank. It wasn’t just catching a couple of people either, the bulk of the field at some point coming out of the water, most fortunately able to fight on for another session.
Whilst the 350s seemed to relish the twisty layout and the steady throttle application (in most cases flat), the 400s and the Unlimited Superboats were struggling to find a setup that suited. What was clear though was that the set rotation was going to require concentration, patience and precision, something not ordinarily associated with the faster classes.
Opening practice and the first qualifier proved challenging, with only half the field finding their way. Robert Colman (Tunn-a-Gut’s) had no problems though coming out on top, then improving over the next two sessions to be fourth by the end of the three qualifyiers. As expected, series points leaders Darek and Ted Sygidus were quick in Triple X, although in the end, Ted only recorded one pass, and Darek two, but neither would be as quick as new 321Ignition recruit Jake Garlick.
Renowned for his placement - a skill learnt from years of 350 Class competition alongside his father Mark - Jake made one early slip before jumping to the top of the qualifying sheet, eight tenths faster than second placed Tremayne Jukes.
Set a lengthy and arguably difficult track direction, Garlick was typically as smooth as silk, trimming millimetres off lines others were reluctant to take.
With fading light dropping the finals to just a top 12 and then a top six, Jake knew he needed to be consistent, and he put the new look 321Ignition machine through its paces to be two tenths faster than Darek Sygidus in the top 12, and three tenths faster than Rob Colman in the final to take his first 400 Class round win.
“I’m rapt,” he beamed afterwards. “Thanks to Greg [Harriman] for letting me run the boat, it was perfect today, we’ve really been able to improve it over the course of the day and in the end we did it comfortably. That should be good for the championship too and puts us right back into contention.”
For Rob Colman consistency and experience played a strong part as he too moved back into title contention, whilst for the Triple X team it was disappointment with Darek hitting an island midway through a quick final six run, the result of which put him into the air, over the island and back into the water - any chance of a quick time was over..
“I did the same thing in the last qualifier and we really flew,” Darek recounted. “Everything started to go in slow motion as we went over the island and I screamed to Dave [navigator David Gill] that we were going to sink the thing when we landed, and it just hopped back into the water and I kept the foot in.. in the end we did a 50, but last time round it was all over. I had the visor down and the spray was killing me, and I did the same thing, although this time I couldn’t see to recover as well and pulled out of it.
“We’ll know for next time, and wind some power out.”
For brother Ted things weren’t quite as successful, the reigning champion struggling with navigation and the tough conditions which didn’t reward his aggressive driving style, in the end he held on for ninth place points and retains second in the drivers championship.
After setting the second fastest qualifying time, and offering reigning Unlimited Superboat champion Daryl Hutton the ‘B’ drive alongside him in ‘Stealth’ [to keep Hutton in the points after ‘Team Solo’ was eliminated in practice] Tremayne Jukes was all smiles at the end despite narrowly missing second.
“Our aim this year was to make people sit up and take notice, and I think we achieved that again this weekend,” he grinned, clearly happy to have his boat inside the top three in both the international classes.
Fourth was the ever-improving Damian O’Leary (Kryptonite Racing) in the re-liveried ‘Hazardous’ the boat that dominated the 2010 Australian and World Group A championships. Campaigning a similar Moe Engines powerplant to that employed by Slade Stanley, and with some assistance from the reigning world title holder, O’Leary has continued to improve this year, to the point where regular podiums cannot be far away.
On a testing layout where experience was to play a part, it was no surprise to see Rodney Krause (Soak’n Fused) figure in the end result, and pleasingly for the team, eldest son Kieran recorded an impressive eighth placed result in the trying conditions, testament to his ongoing maturity.
Splitting the Wagga-based father and son duo was Brooke Dixon, a driver who ordinarily would have figured prominently in such conditions.
“Our primary engine was sent to New Zealand for repairs and an upgrade after Temora,” Hi-Tec Oils team-boss Phil Dixon confirmed. “It was a bit tired after a couple of seasons of serious work, but sadly, whilst it’s not a major job [to repair], we’re having difficulty sourcing parts in the US as a lot of suppliers after the global recession stopped carrying parts and started to offload stock. What that meant was that we needed to use Greg Mercier’s second engine from 2009 and it was down on power. We checked Brooke’s trace [MoteC] and she was flat, there was nothing she could do. Dissapointing for the team, but it’s consistency that counts, and continuing to gain points so she’s still in the title hunt.”
Whilst the Auspro Logistics/Hi-Tec Oils team was lamenting on one hand what could have been for Brooke, on the other they were in full celebration mode after the final of the Unlimited class with Phil Dixon breaking his win drought to take a comfortable victory in a class he had dominated in the past.
His job was made easier in the end though after his title rivals started to fall away.
For back-to-back Australian champion Daryl ‘Nutsy’ Hutton, his weekend looked to be over before it had begun with team-owner Peter Freckleton pulling in from his practice lap with a holed piston. That was it for ‘Team Solo’, forcing Hutton into the pits to find a replacement drive to recover some sort of points from the weekend.
In the end an olive branch was provided by none-other than Stingray team-boss Tremayne Jukes, although for Hutton, it meant he would be contesting the Unlimited class in a Group A boat… a situation which in the end played a very big part in the final result.
As had been the case in Group A [400 Class], much of the Unlimited field had trouble negotiating the course, a situation no doubt made worse by bulk horsepower.
“Because our boats are so powerful,” RAM-JET’s Phonsy Mullan admitted [1600+ horsepower in his twin-turbo 7-litre Chev LSX], and the course includes so many stop and go corners, we’re on and off the throttle. What that does, as we jump on the gas, is force these huge jet units to suck hard which pulls the boat into the water, and that drags us towards the bottom of the channel, it also puts more of the boat in the water creating drag. What we probably need is the throttle locked off at 30-35% and just drive it flat, it’s not our weekend.
“I’m also struggling with a fuel issue, we’re basically running dry before we’ve completed the lap..” he admitted.
Echoing Mullan’s comments was Dean Finch, who like Mullan, was struggling to make it around.
“It wasn’t really a circuit that suited us, although that said, we were quick. Our setup was a bit of a compromise to counter the weed off the start and through the first couple of corners,” Finchy admitted. “Our nozzle size was too small to really make the most of the power, but navigation too was an issue.
“Unfortunately during one of the final qualifiers Demi [navigator and daughter] hurt her neck when we hit the spinout pool - we were doing about 115kmh as we came in and she hurt herself. We took it easy for the next session, but it was too much, so I swapped navis with Tyler [Finch]. I told the ramp marshall, but in all the running around and prepping for my run after Tyler’s, what I should have done was tell the Superboat driver rep, but I didn’t, so in the end we were disqualified.
“I’m okay with the decision, although disappointed, but that might be the last round we do at Caba, as we’re tight on budget, so we’ll see how we go for the rest of the season.”
Next out was top qualifier, Greg ‘Crusty’ Mercier, the former Queensland state champion loves the Cabarita layout, and it showed, comfortably clear in each session having sorted his ongoing fuel issues..
“They’ll have to start calling me ‘the guru’ before long,” he laughed. “The fuel issue had plagued us since we started in the Unlimited class, and we couldn’t find the solution, so I did some research, and discovered that the problem was the fuel tank was too far from the engine, and the pump was struggling to keep the pressure up to the injectors, so I relocated the tank and the problem looks to be solved.”
Solved it may have been, but Crusty soon had other issues on his hands in the top 12, clipping a submerged bank in the closing stages of the lap which threw ‘the shark’ upside down and then over and back onto an island, his weekend was run.
“Perhaps [I was] trying a bit hard, but vision was starting to get tough too as the sun began to set. No excuses because it was the same for everyone else, but that was that. Damage isn’t too bad I hope, a bit of a knock in the transom [tail], and the engine will go back to Brian [Cassar, Moe Engines], so we’ll be back again in August – it’s a pity though, if we’d kept our noses clean that may have been win number one in the Unlimited class.”
To further emphasise how little outright horsepower would play in the final result of the Unlimited class, the ‘Jackhammer’ team from Melton had emerged as Dixon’s greatest threat, with Adam Raverty holding down second [after Finch’s ultimate disqualification] after the top 12, with team-mate Jody Ely not far behind. In the end though Ely’s impressive run ended early in the final six, clipping a bank and flipping off the circuit, landing at the very spot he’d finished his 2010 run with engine failure.
“In the top 12 I saw how I could shave some time off the corner I hit with the line I was taking, trouble was on that last lap, I came in off line and tried, but it was too wide and too late, and over she went,” Jody recalled. “Fortunately damage was minimal because it threw us backwards back into the channel before it bounced up the bank and rolled, the biggest drama we had was spinning around so quickly, that was a bit hard on the neck, but it saved the boat.
“It looks like the engine is okay, and the boat is fine, I’m just dirty it cost Adam [Raverty] valuable championship points. I bet him that I’d beat him this round, and whilst I was quicker early, and I got more points this time, it wasn’t a fair fight after I cost him the final, so I’ve handed across the $100, he deserved it this weekend..”
With all of his major opponents sidelined, and Hutton down some 800 horsepower on his normal mount, Phil Dixon stunned his opponents in the first of the finals to take five seconds off his best lap time, and to prove it no fluke, he took another six tenths off in the final.
“I was probably sand-bagging a bit,” he joked afterwards. “I was having dramas with the navigation early so in one of the qualifiers I decided to run around at about 75% and ensure I had the direction right. I didn’t want to play my cards too early either and let everyone know what we had, but I was pretty confident we’d pull this one off because we had the boat to do it today.”
Second in the end was the improving Jamie Welch (Skywest Racing), with mother Cheryl, a multiple West Australian Champion, a fine fourth, just four one-hundredths off her first national series podium.
In the end though it was the consistency of Hutton that allowed him to not only take the final step of the podium, but top points for the Unlimited class in what looked to have been almost certain retirement at the start of the day.
“I said at the start of the year that we wanted to three-peat,” he grinned, “so consistency was what it was all about.. 12 months ago the team did a number on me and turned the wick down on the Team Solo boat and wound back the power, and that was the right move. Today it was much the same, it wasn’t about horsepower, it was about consistency and maturity, you had to drive this rotation smart. Thanks heaps to TJ too for letting me jump in alongside him, that has really saved the day and kept our championship alive.”
The Tyreright Australian Superboat Championships enjoys a small mid-season break before returning to the Cabarita venue on the Tweed Coast - August 27-28 for round #4 of the six round season. For more information to keep you up to date in the interim, please keep an eye on www.v8Superboats.com.au
Rnd#3 Tyreright Australian Superboat Championships
Unlimited Superboat
1. Daryl Hutton (Team Solo) - 57 points
2. Phil Dixon (Auspro Logistics) - 50
3. Cheryl Welch (Skywest Racing) - 49
4. Jamie Welch (Skywest Racing) - 45
5. Jody Ely (Jackhammer) - 43
6. Greg Mercier (AzUDo) - 40
7. Adam Raverty (Jackhammer) - 31
8. Louise Dixon (Auspro Logistics) - 28
9. Phonsy Mullan (RAM-JET) - 10
10. Tyler Finch (Loose Cannon) - 10
11. Peter Freckleton (Team Solo) - 10
12. Dean Finch (Loose Cannon) - 10
International Group A (400 Class)
1. Robert Colman (Tunna-Gut’s) - 58 points
2. Jake Garlick (321Ignition) - 54
3. Tremayne Jukes (Stealth) - 52
4. Damian O’Leary (Kryptonite) - 48
5. Darek Sygidus (Triple X) - 38
5. Rodney Krause (Soak’n Fused) - 38
7. Brooke Dixon (Hi-Tec Oils) - 32
8. Kieran Krause (Soak’n Fused) - 30
9. Ted Sygidus (Triple X) - 27
10. Mick Manini (Cool Bananas) - 25
11. Brooke Lucas (Our Toy) - 22
12. Greg Harriman (321Ignition) - 14
13. Nathan Dickenson (Witch Bank) - 13
14. Kevin Laugesen (SpaNET) - 10
15. Brad Marsden (Air8ted) - 10
350 Class
1. Mark Garlick (Evil As) - 64 points
2. Daniel deVoigt (DEVO 2) - 62
3. Brett Thornton (Obsession) - 53
4. Troy McKenzie (Predator) - 40
5. Betina Dickenson (Witch Bank) - 37
6. Michael Darween (Under Suspicion) - 34
7. Lauren Dickenson (Witch Bank) - 26
7. Ed Owen (Under Suspicion) - 26
9. Shane Allen (Predator) - 21
10. Shane Brennan (Miztabanks) - 20
11. Daniel James (Stingray Racing) - 10
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