ROUGH CONDITIONS PROVIDED GREAT RACING IN NEWCASTLE
1st May 2011
Maritimo wins class 1 at Newcastle 2011
Ocean conditions in Newcastle certainly brushed off the cobwebs for all teams competing in Round 1 of the 2011 Series. With a 3 metre swell on Saturday for pole shootout and a 4 metre swell on Sunday for race day, teams were pushed to the limit, both physically and mentally.
For all the action of Round 1, tune into the first programme of the 2011 Series on Channel 10’s sports dedicated channel One HD on Saturday 14th May at 5pm and Sunday 15th May at 1:30pm.
Race favourites and Aus 1 champions, Mustang, pitted early on Sunday to replace the power steering hose on the boat and returned shortly after to try to make up time on team rivals Maritimo. Not long after, Mustang hit a freak wave which saw the boat dive under the water, blast the engine hatch off and fill the cockpit with water. Both Tom Barry-Cotter and Pal Virik Nilsen returned to the pits a little wet, but more importantly, unhurt. Jaeger Group boat experience problems early on in the race, which forced Simon Isherwood and Colin Craven to retire after just 2 laps. The Simrad Maritimo boat looked sleek in the water and carried on to perform consistently throughout the race giving Luke Durman and Ross Willaton their first of the season and placing them on top of the leaderboard for the Aus 1 Championship.
In the Supercat 1000 class, 2010 victors Global Racing broke both drive units on Saturday, which is rare in the sport of Offshore Racing to break 2 at the same time. With the unfortunate absence of Global Racing, it was the battle of the North Queensland Teams, The Good Guys and Mazlin Electrical. The Good Guys got a great start and a jump on the entire competing field towards the 4 metre swells that awaited them out of the heads. While Mazlin Electrical gave the Frier boys a bit of a drag race up the straight half way through the race, Chris and Brendan stuck to their race plan and performed consistently to clock up their first win for the season. The Good Guys team are currently sitting 2nd on the Aus 1 Championship leaderboard.
SUV Dodge Ram had just taken the lead from Saracen in what was a fantastic battle in the Supercat 600 class. However, shortly after taking the lead, Brett Luhrmann and Cameron Davis experienced a blown fuel pump in their port engine, which unfortunately meant they had to retire. Berwicks looked to be travelling very well throughout the race, but unfortunately retired 30 minutes into the hour long race. Kwozzy performed well throughout the race with Jim Harris and Paul Fowlds crossing the line in 2nd place, however, it was Saracen who dominated the race and took out first place in the 600 class.
The Supercat 400’s did well to brave the seas and it was certainly a tightly contested race, with less than a minute between 1st and 2nd place. Number 8 Racing experienced issues early on in the race, which put them out of contention for Round 1. The new look FGI boat and the Hogs Breath boat tackled it out in the rough seas and put on a fantastic display for the 15,000 spectators lining the foreshore of Newcastle Harbour. However, it was FGI who managed to cross the line first and take out 1st place in the 400 class.
Round 1 of the Australian Offshore Superboat Championship in Newcastle had it all – spectacular racing, spectacular weather, a record number of spectators and challenging “Offshore” conditions
The Offshore Superboat Championships wish to thank their supporters and sponsors, particularly the Newcastle City Council and Maritime NSW for their assistance in conducting this event.
Teams will now prepare their boats and head north to Mackay, Queensland for Round 2 on the 25th and 26th June. For spectacular pictures of Round 1, or for any further information on the Offshore Superboat Championships, log on to www.superboat.com.au.
Article courtesy of Superboat Australia and originally published on http://www.superboat.com.au.
