Triple X; Dezi does it again..
Triple X; Dezi does it again..
Rnd#3 Continental Tyres Australian Superboat Championships
Round Mountain Raceway, Cabarita Beach, NSW
July 10-11
words| Sean Henshelwood 321Ignition Magazine
SGA Engineering’s Darek Sygidus put himself back into the 400 Class series lead during the third round of the Continental Tyres Australian Superboat Championships at Cabarita Beach after defeating brother Ted in the final. The win also sets up the potential for the mother of all showdowns in the final round; should Ted take maximum points during the remaining rounds, he will JUST beat his younger brother, however should Dezi win just two more heats (from six), the duo will finish equal on points. If he wins another final, the championship will be his..
“It was the first run of the day and I just clipped one corner at the top of the circuit which threw us out of the water,” Ted admitted afterwards. “The boat’s fine, but unfortunately we landed hard on Kelsie’s [Gill] side and she got a little knocked around.”
Fortunately for the team, despite being extracted by the safety crew with all care to protect her spine, Kelsie was given the all clear following tests and was back at the circuit later in the day to cheer the team on, although moving very gingerly. “I’m okay, it was just a big knock, but it won’t stop me getting back in the boat,” she smiled.
The accident was a big disappointment for the closely bonded team and cost both Group A drivers their navigators as David Gill [Darek’s navi] accompanied his daughter to the hospital for checks. The knock also had an effect on Ted who despite his tough exterior is a big advocate of family, so it took him a couple of sessions to get back up to speed.
Whilst Sunday had gotten off to a less than perfect start, the whole Triple X team had been rejoicing on Saturday night after a clean-sweep of the ‘Rip-Shift Dash 4 Cash’ - even team-boss and Dash 4 Cash sponsor Phonsy Mullan took back some of his own sponsorship dollars with third in the Unlimited class.
“Whatever happens, Phonsy gets it all back anyway,” Ted Sygidus quipped after taking second to Darek, his 47.642 just five one hundredths short of victory. The day hadn’t started that way though, and despite his victory in the final, Dezi was well short of Ted’s best in qualifying - 47.176 the fastest Group A time of the day, enough to put him into the top qualifiers spot heading into the Dash 4 Cash final (Ted carding three 47 second laps).
Even with Ted’s setback, and Darek’s subsequent withdrawal from the opening qualifying round on Sunday, the team were quickly back up to speed in session two with their new ‘substitute’ navigators; Ted joined by ‘Excalibur’s’ Victor Kondratenko and Darek by ‘Jackhammer’s’ Wayne Stewart.
Ted was clearly being more cautious after his morning off, but Darek showed no sign of slowing down after his Dash 4 Cash victory on day one, topping both the second and third qualifying rounds whilst Ted carded a second and a fourth.
The first elimination final saw Dezi top the times again, with Jake Garlick turning an outstanding lap to split the Sygidus brothers. Dezi went better again in the top six, with Garlick again just hundredths clear of Ted, setting up a stunning final for the huge local crowd.
The final was a different matter, and there was little in it again as Ted set the early pace over Garlick, but neither could do anything about Darek who pipped them both by a couple of tenths for his second round victory of the year.
“That’s awesome,” he beamed afterwards. “It was a tough start to the day with Kelsie getting hurt, but we’re rapt that she’s back to see the final and that’s she’s okay. The boat was perfect all day and it was a pleasure to drive. Ted did a great job too, but I know that Kelsie’s well being was playing on his mind and that slowed him up a bit.”
“Dezi did a great job,” Ted admitted grabbing his younger brother by the neck. “It was good that one of us took the win, and boy doesn’t it open up the championship. If it comes down to the wire, we might have to get Mum to the final round so that she can sort it out..”
Whilst the Sygidus boys were celebrating in the RAM-JET pits of Triple X team-boss Phonsy Mullan, things weren’t quite as positive, although the smiles were still broad..
After carding third during the ‘RAM-JET Dash 4 Cash’ on Saturday, Phonsy was hopeful of a return to the podium on Sunday. He looked on target too carding two fourth placed heat times despite still coming to terms with his new jet unit.
“Looks like we’ve finally sorted our engine problems, so now it’s down to the jet unit,” Phonsy acknowledged. “After our dramas earlier in the season we did some work with Konrad Scott [Scott Jets] to improve what we were doing and he’s developed a package for us that he believes will work, and after yesterday’s efforts, I think he’s right.
“The diameter of the unit is smaller than what we’ve had in the past, which should prove helpful, and there’s a few ‘tweaks’ with it that will assist the handling of the boat - most notably, the trim adjuster. It’s operated off the steering wheel and hydraulically adjusts the angle of the nose of the boat. It’s brilliant of starts, it’s like a jet, but it’s taking some getting used to on the track.
“Essentially what it does is adjust the angle of the nozzle to bring the nose up or down, so it keeps it down off the start and gives us more ‘grip’ and can do a similar thing out of slow corners, but it’s a fine adjustment so you need to be careful, otherwise you find yourself porpoising - we learnt that lesson very quickly..!”
Whilst he improved every run coming to grips with the new unit and it’s limited supply of props, the third qualifier saw the final serious run for RAM-JET after it came out of the water during the second half of the lap, landing hard on the transom, splitting the front of the hull in the process.
The crash looked bad from outside the boat, but the onboard camera showed what looked to be just a ‘slight’ off.
“It’s actually not too bad,” Phonsy admitted afterwards. “We had a drama with reeds from the track getting into the intercooler and we couldn’t get it all out so I was keeping an eye on the temperature and that may have just caught me, especially at the speeds we’re moving in these things. If I could get an aluminium welder I could put the split back together and we’d be fine to keep going, but I fear that’s our last lap.”
Sadly for Phonsy it was his last serious lap, although he did seal up the split and complete a final lap at much reduced pace in order to collect valuable series points.
His result in the end gave him equal fifth for the weekend with fellow former Group A star, Greg Mercier.
The Triple X Racing team will now prepare for the penultimate round of the national championships at Susan River Raceway, Maryborough on September 4-5.
You can catch all the action from the 2010 Continental Tyres Australian Superboat Championships on SBS Speedweek and FOX Sports 'Inside Speed' (check local guides and keep an eye on www.v8superboats.com.au for dates and times).
Triple X Racing are proudly supported by; GM Race Engines, GM Motorsport, SGA Engineering, RAMJET, Ripshift, D.G. Parsons Transport, Gill Engineering, Sign Perfection, Showcase Constructions, Leggett Crane Hire, Tom Matthews Accounting and Big Benna Events.
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2010 Continental Tyres Australian Superboat Championships
Unlimited Superboat Championship points (after three rounds of five)*
1. Daryl Hutton (176 points), 2. Slade Stanley (171), 3. Greg Mercier (138), 4. Mick Carroll (133), 5. Phonsy Mullan (125), 6. Andrew Page (109), 7. Adam Raverty (97), 8. Paul Burgess (92), 9. Peter Freckleton (85), 10. Jody Ely (83), 11. Dean Finch (37)
International Group A (400 Class) Championship points (points after three rounds of five*)
1. Darek Sygidus (152 points), 2. Ted Sygidus (148), 3. Rohan Smith (141), 4. Robert Colman (127), 5. Brooke Dixon (122), 6. Daniel Walton (120), 7. Jake Garlick (106), 8. Mark Garlick (96), 9. Damian O’Leary (93), 10. Brooke Lucas (79), 11. Mick Manini (64), 12. Rodney Krause (58), 13. Tremayne Jukes (51), 14. Greg Harriman (47), 15. Louise Dixon (36), 16. Kevin Laugesen (30), 17. Chris Bollins (30), 18. Shane Loughnan (25), 19. Kieran Krause (23), 20. Tony Whalan (20)
* championship points are calculated from the best four point scoring rounds (of five)
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