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[BOAT] 321…IGNITION launches at Cabarita..
by Sean Henshelwood
(Archived)
pic: Theo Spykers
321…IGNITION launches at Cabarita..
Cabarita, NSW - September 20-21, 2008
At Maryborough two weeks ago, Australian Formula Jet Sprint Association President Greg Harriman campaigned an all-black boat. Formerly Black Betty, Harriman was preparing to introduce his ‘new look’ at the penultimate round of the Queensland Superboat Championships, but didn’t have all his ducks in a row prior to kick-off at Maryborough..
“All will be revealed,” he grinned..
At Cabarita last weekend for the combined Queensland final and Australian championship points round, all WAS revealed..
Resplendent in black, white and red, the immaculate Group A boat emerged in it’s new guise; 321…IGNITION.
“It’s in association with 321 Ignition Magazine in part to support them for their efforts with the sport, and in part to show some of the new and even the ‘older’ guys in the sport, that you can name your boat after a ‘corporate’ partner.
“Boat names are great and they form a strong association between driver and boat, but look at Chris Bollins’ Conti-Racer which ties in their association with Continental Tyres, and now our boat which ties in with another sponsor, they can be just as effective.
“The boat looks terrific and has certainly stepped us up another notch in the sports’ professionalism, but importantly it also shows that you can involve a sponsor in your name and still have a great looking boat.”
From the team’s new sponsor too came nothing but praise.. “I was honoured to be asked by Greg to be involved,” 321 Ignition Magazine’s Managing Editor Sean Henshelwood agreed. “Since seeing my first Superboat event almost two years ago, I’ve been hooked and felt from that point on that I would do whatever I could to help increase the profile of the sport, so to be acknowledged in this way has been justification enough for me that what we’re doing is heading in the right direction.
“It’s a partnership of sorts. We’ll certainly do whatever we can to continue to assist the sport, and obviously Greg’s team, but behind the scenes we’re also looking to get other companies involved in Jetsprinting because it is a fantastic sport with a huge largely-untapped potential..
“And it’s not just Greg’s team.. Across the face of the sport, even in the short time I’ve been involved, you can see the levels of professionalism increasing across every team.. Each and every event I go to gets better and better, we just all need to do whatever we can to get it out in front of the greater population, because I know they’ll get hooked on it, just like I did!”
Despite looking the part and setting a new fashion standard, sadly 321 IGNITION’s on-track debut was less than ideal.
“We struggled a lot in the end,” Greg admitted. “There were various things that we’d done to prepare the boat during the mid-season break in order to be more competitive, but there were still little things that we weren’t prepared for, so we had to just deal with them on the day.
“I have to say the boat is much nicer to drive than it has been, and Col (Parish) has put together a great engine package for us, but I need to fine tune the boat some more to ensure that we’re up to speed for Melton, Albury and our World Championship assault at the end of the year.”
By the close of competition at Cabarita, Harriman was ranked eighth in the Queensland title race, and now sits 11th in the Australian championship points.
At presentation though he found that despite his tough weekend, he wasn’t going home empty handed.. “The team receiving the Col Parish Best Team Award for our efforts with the new look,” Greg grinned, “I wasn’t expecting that.. Wait till they see the new racesuits we’ve got coming from Meridian Motorsport, that will really give them something to talk about…”
The 321…IGNITION Racing team now heads to Melton for the penultimate round of the Australian Superboat Championships on Saturday, October 25. The Melton facility is located at the rear of McPherson Park, off Coburns Road approximately five kilometres north of Melton.
321..IGNITION Racing are proudly supported by; 321 IGNITION Magazine, Brumby’s, Parish Automotive, SKIN Industries Pickering Smash Repairs, and Meridian Motorsport.
2008 Queensland Jetsprint Championships
Group A (points after the fifth and final round)
1. Brooke Dixon (198), 2. Greg Mercier (194), 3. Slade Stanley (182), 4. Kevin Laugesen (157), 5. Robert Coleman (137), 6. Rohan Smith (108), 7. Phonsy Mullan (97), 8. Greg Harriman (95), 9. Tim Howell (93), 10. Teresa Southern (79), 11. Tremayne Jukes (70), 12. Peter Monger (62), 13. Doug Fraser (58), 14. Ted Sygidus (52), 15. Jamie Green (40), 16. Derek Drummond (32), 17. Darren Watkins (28), 18. Steve Lackas (19), 19. Jo Shellcott (16), 20. Dan Walton (15), 21. Brett Shellcott (15), 22. Sam Everingham (9), 23. Jim Campbell (5), 24. Jeff Flemming (5), 25. Dave Evans (5), 26. Gerard Elphinstone (5)
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2008 Australian Superboat Championships
Group A (points after round#5 of 7)
1. Slade Stanley (237), 2. Phonsy Mullan (234), 3. Greg Mercier (188), 4. Rohan Smith (187), 5. Ted Sygidus (153), 6. Kevin Laugesen (130), 7. Brooke Dixon (128), 8. Robert Coleman (103), 9. Teresa Southern (71), 10. Steve Lackas (55), 11. Greg Harriman (40), 12. Tim Howell (39), 13. Brett Shellcott (24), 14. Adrian Kemp (23), 15. Peter Monger (23), 16. Ged Elphinstone (17), 17. Damien O’Leary (15), 18. Darren Watkins (15), 19. Jeff Flemming (10), 20. Jo Shellcott (10), 21. Simon Zarb (9), 22. Kim Legerski (5), 23. Matt Legerski (5), 24. Shane Loughnan (5)
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