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[BOAT] Australia #2 plate for Az-U-Do
by Sean Henshelwood
(Archived)
Australia #2 plate for Az-U-Do!
Albury, NSW - November 15, 2008
After a frustrating run at ‘home’ in Melton last time out, Greg ‘Crusty’ Mercier was hoping for better things at the final round of the Australian Superboat championships in Albury..
“Yeah, last time was a bit of a hassle. It was just little things, and a slight oil leak in the head, but it dropped our pace to the point where we weren’t able to challenge for the podium, although second in the points was just reward for the consistency we’ve got now in the boat,” Greg agreed.
Coming into Albury in third place in the championship, Mercier was looking to consolidate his position, although the returning Rohan Smith who was closest to him in the points and the victor last time out at Albury, was additional pressure as he looked to cement the teams position on the podium.
Come Saturday morning the trademark grin had returned after Mercier declared himself ‘happy’ with Friday night’s opening heat run. “It’s okay… Actually the boat is fantastic, we were pleased with last night’s first run. It was nice too to have Sarah in the boat..” Greg was alluding to his Albury co-driver, daughter Sarah who was having her first run of the season, whilst wife Dorinda took on team-managers duties. “Someone’s stolen my boat..” Dorinda laughed. “Actually it’s nice that father and daughter can have a run, Sarah’s about to move over to WA to live, so this gives them some ‘bonding’ time..”
Out of the box, the silver ‘shark’ was third quickest, just behind Smith but light years behind Stanley. By the third qualifier early Saturday afternoon he’d settled into fourth behind the ‘usual suspects’ and was sniffing around for a run in the top three. By the fourth qualifier though things weren’t running quite so smoothly with the crowd pleasing shark almost ten seconds off the pace, a sheepish Mercier admitting “we nearly beat the 350s” after a quick engine inspection saw two spark plug leads misappropriated dropping Az-U-Do to six cylinders.. “Doh..”
By the final qualifier, the team recovered to take fourth, less than a second off the tail of Mullan and Smith.
The top ten shootout again saw the ‘shark’ grab fourth, missing the final three cut by less than a second.. “We gave it our best shot, but we were just that fraction off. I’m rapt with the performance of the boat, we just need to go away and find a fraction of a second before the world championships, and then we’ll be there.”
“On a different note, I’m rapt to be on the second step of the championship podium, our little team has done a brilliant job this year, and I really feel the boat is good enough to win the world title.. Whether the driver can or not is yet to be determined, but certainly the boat is awesome..
“I have to thank a number of people for their help, love and support this year, notably Dorinda and Sarah for coming along for the ride (laughs), Ken Kesper, Gary Scantleton and my trusty engine builder Brian Cassar. I’d also like to thank the Dixon clan for transporting the boat backwards and forwards to Queensland for me, and to the committee of the AFJSA.. 2008 has been one hell of a leap forward for this sport, and 2009 already looks on paper to have taken another big step forward again, I can’t wait..!”
The Az-U-Do Racing team now prepares for the 2008 UIM World Championship in New Zealand, race one of which is scheduled for Meremere (south of Auckland) on January 3-4, whilst round two will be a week later at Featherston (north of Wellington – January 10-11).
Az-U-Do Racing are proudly supported by; ACOL Creative Skylight Solutions and Moe Engines.
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2008 Australian Superboat Championships
International Group A (final series points after round#7 of 7)
1. Phonsy Mullan, 2. Greg Mercier, 3. Rohan Smith, 4. Ted Sygidus, 5. Brooke Dixon, 6. Kevin Laugesen, 7. Robert Coleman, 8. Teresa Southern
Final points and placings yet to be confirmed..
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