The Australian V8 Superboats Championship presented by Penrite returns to Lake Centenary in Temora this weekend for the fifth round of the season, a season which takes a slight sabbatical post-race to close out the calendar year before firing up again at Griffith in mid-February.
The Championship is at a critical point with the possibility that father and son duo Phonsy and Bastian Mullan may have done enough by Saturday night to cement their points advantage and claim back-to-back titles on adjusted points, such has been their domination of the season to date.
In 400-Class though, things have taken a more interesting turn, with Jody Ely and Brendan Doyle both carding two victories apiece this season, and with runner-up positions to fall back on, on adjusted points they are effectively equal, putting greater emphasis on outright success over the next three rounds.
Ely claimed comfortable wins in the opening two rounds of the season, before Doyle stepped up to claim wins in rounds three and four – including victory last time out at Temora – prompting Ely to make a big change ahead of the resumption of play this weekend, a brand new, Phonsy Mullan built 400ci powerplant going into ‘Rampage’ in an effort to stem the void between the two boats, the new engine arguably the new benchmark in the sport in the power stakes..
Whilst that battle will keep the afficionados occupied, the outright battle in LS-Class too could provide an interesting aside, with both Kyle Elphinstone and Matt Malthouse finding impressive pace across recent rounds, the pair looking to try and make an impact on Bastian Mullan’s current advantage, although Mullan too will be campaigning an updated setup, with the addition of a new hull for the coming round.
With this weekend’s track rotation following that used twice over the last two years, teams will have plenty of data to draw upon, with the benchmark time for the Unlimited class being Slade Stanley’s 38.107 from June 2021, whilst the LS and 400-Class teams will be looking to improve on Justin Roylance’s 42.287 set on the same weekend, an event where he defeated Jody Ely by a mere eight one hundredths of a second..
UNLIMITED SUPERBOAT
With four wins from four starts you’d be hard pressed to look past eight-time Australian Champion Phonsy Mullan to take the win again this weekend. Former Champion Daryl Hutton will again make a start in the only boat to have pushed Mullan in recent years, the expat Kiwi back behind the wheel of Slade Stanley’s ‘Hazardous’ but whilst more comfortable in the boat, Mullan has certainly raised the bar again with respect to just what it takes to win.
Comfort aside, the night-time conditions will also play a part, although a month on from round four, the sun will set much later in the day, and twilight too will provide a little more visibility as the round comes to a conclusion, so watch for Hutton to push for what could be his first victory in years.
Frustratingly the numbers in the Unlimited category are lower this weekend than previous rounds, prior commitments, flooding and ongoing parts delays have kept a number of boats from the final round of the year, but the prolonged break until we start the season afresh early in the new year, could be enough to see our biggest field of the year at Griffith in February.
With Rob Coley competing in New Zealand, the way was paved for Scott Krause to take the fight to the podium contenders, but the frustrations he faced with a DNF last time out were compounded on a closer inspection of the engine.
Like Forbes local Justin Roylance, Krause spent some time between rounds helping the small community of Eugowra who suffered from the dramatic effects of flash flooding, impacting hundreds of lives, the former Unlimited Champion spending eight days assisting with the clean up before coming back to Temora to prepare for the weekend ahead.
A mixup with fuel last month saw Krause sidelined whilst within sight of a podium finish, removing the heads from the engine revealing a bigger issue, a thumb-sized hole blown between cylinders three and five leaving the team with a mountain of work to do to effect repairs in time to make Saturday morning’s engine warmup, Krause admitting it’s a 50/50 chance at best that he’ll be ready to go.
For Chris Edmonds – who was suffering his own fuel issue last time out – a lack of fuel capacity seeing him fail to complete the early qualifiers forcing him to ‘B’ drive ‘Hazardous’ alongside Daryl Hutton, he’s effected repairs and increased the tank size by seven litres allowing him to continue the development of the ‘non-Hazardous’ machine.
With a number of his rivals sidelined for the weekend, Glenn ‘Spider’ Roberts puts himself in a prime position to cement his place in the Championship top three, the series veteran embroiled in a great battle over the third step with Rob Coley and Scott Krause, the ‘Blown Budget’ driver also only ten points in arrears of Daryl Hutton and ready to pounce should any of the contenders suffer a setback.
With Sam Everingham committed to another event, Tyler Finch sidelined by the rising floodwaters in Mildura and a couple of other teams still waiting on parts, it’s typical of the nature of these exotic beasts that their entry numbers suffer the greatest impact, but with what’s going on in closed sheds and behind garage doors, the future certainly looks bright for the future of the Unlimited category.
400-CLASS
Whilst part delays have impacted the Unlimited category, 400-Class too has suffered a few setbacks. Reigning champion Justin Roylance remains sidelined after his second big off in as many rounds at Keith, the good news being that the team have all but repaired their ‘Jetspeed’ hull, whilst the engine has been given a clean bill of health by JRE Race Engines, the ‘Outlaw’ driver expecting to be fighting fit come February.
For Paul Kelly, work commitments have kept him from continuing his return to the sport, but whilst two of the outright contenders are out, the fight for the 2022 Championship is well and truly alive, and perhaps more competitive than ever!
Kicking off the year with two wins from two starts, you got the feeling that Jody Ely was pretty comfortable with his performances at Cabarita, but come Keith he was lamenting a sudden surge in performance from Brendan Doyle, the ‘PULSE’ driver striking a second blow last time out at Temora after a rare error from Ely during the second elimination final.
Post-race both drivers admitted they felt the other had them covered had the fight continued through to the final, but the result suggested Ely was concerned. Enter Phonsy Mullan.. Ahead of the 2018 World Series, GM Motorsport had planned to deliver Ely a new powerplant to help the Australian driver compete against the Kiwis, but delays saw the project shelved until recently. Further setbacks held up the delivery of the new unit, but just last week it made the dyno, turning in eye-watering performance numbers. With his own ‘PULSE’ hull sitting in his garage, and the new engine likely becoming the class of the field, Ely feels he now has the tools to take back the advantage, although Doyle admits he still has plenty left in the boat, and with just a couple of season’s experience under his belt – plenty left in his driving as well..
For their rivals, they will be watching the battle for the win with great interest and sitting in a prime position to pick up the pieces if it goes wrong, a scenario which saw two first-time podium finishers last month, Hugh Gilchrist and Darrin Kesper joining Brendan Doyle on the podium after Ely and then Danny Knappick suffered setbacks.
Gilchrist’s result was just reward for a number of seasons competing alongside Greg Harriman, the Australian Moulding & Door Company CEO though debuting his own ‘Mackraft’ at Keith for round three before taking the fight to his rivals at Temora. With former Unlimited winner Tremayne Jukes alongside to assist, Gilchrist overcame some early setbacks to be in a prime position to charge late in the day, picking up a popular podium finish. Likewise, Darrin Kesper who had suffered setbacks at both Cabarita’s second round and at Keith, his third placed finish was just reward for staying the course, both will be hoping to continue the trend this weekend.
For Danny Knappick, his early exit last time out at Temora was a setback he’s keen to overcome to continue his run of podium finishes, whilst fellow central-coast based competitor Daniel Warburton returns after missing the fourth round due to business commitments.
LS-CLASS
With a new hull for Bastian Mullan and younger brother Nate, the signs suggest their rivals will be facing a hard time breaking the reigning Champion’s stranglehold on the 2022 Championship, but that won’t stop them trying.
Last time out the points leader set a cracking pace – up by 1.2-seconds in qualifying, he eventually completed the final two seconds faster than Matt Malthouse and 2.5-seconds faster than former champion Kyle Elphinstone, in fact his pace was so impressive that he was classified the third fastest boat – outright – completing the final just two and a half seconds slower than his father’s Unlimited pace.
Again, the bulk of the field will be LS-Class entries, with 15 set for the fifth round, absentees include Darren Pollard’s ‘Disturbed’ team who discovered some setbacks with Jade Atchison’s ‘Twisted’ package, and Luke Walters who had commitments elsewhere.
For the first time this season there will be four teams doing double-duty, the Mullan brothers in the new ‘RISPHIFT’ machine, father-and-son Matt and Mitch Malthouse in ‘Nood Nutz’, the second father-and-son combination of Ron and Tyler O’Day in ‘Agro-Vation’, whilst for the ‘Drop Bear’ team of husband-and-wife Lawrie and Karen Howlett, they will share driving and navigational duties during Karen’s debut as a driver.
Typically, the competition for a place in the final six will be intense, whilst the battle to make the Top 12 elimination final will be a fight all on its own.
Expect Paul Hill to make an impression in ‘Slicer’, the Queenslander looking to make an impact on the lead group after a frustrating start to the season, whilst Jim Beaman will also be hoping to revive some of the magic he discovered last year during his maiden season in the boat.
Mike Hessell has turned in some impressive performances over recent rounds to be regularly threatening the top half of the field, whilst 2022 rookie Noel Verning will be looking to continue his steady progress up the leaderboard.
With Lance Edmonds and Rob Johnston also in the mix, there will be plenty of fireworks settling positions ahead of the finals, something which will keep what is expected to be a big Temora crowd, well and truly entertained.
Junior Development
For the first time this season we will see three entries in the Junior Development category, reigning Champion Koby Bourke for the first time in his career facing a very real threat in 12 year-old Connor Smith, whilst the returning Eliza Roylance will be looking to add to her victory on debut at Keith.
Smith has impressed this year with his maturity as he switches disciplines from Speedway to boats, the Queenslander building his craft across recent rounds, competing against Bourke on the ‘starter’ key that controls the performance of the Rotax SeaDoo powered craft. For this weekend though Smith will join Bourke on the ‘Open’ key, and if recent testing at Cabarita in the leadup to this weekend is any indication, things will be close at the top.
Add in Eliza Roylance who despite competing at the lower level of performance thanks to her rookie status, and you have another great battle brewing to keep the fans entertained.
Round five of the 2022 Australian V8 Superboats Championship presented by Penrite will be contested at the Kennards Hire Park at Temora’s Lake Centenary on Saturday 03 December, with opening qualifying at 1:30pm ahead of the finals which will begin at 6:30pm. Meanwhile round three of the season will feature free-to-air on 7mate the same day, check guides for details as various States will host the program at varying times.
For anyone attending the fifth round, the circuit is located at Lake Centenary, 3.0-kilometres north of Temora on Barmedman Road – diagonally opposite Temora Airport. Tickets are available at the gate (EFTPOS available on-site).
For those of you unable to make the event, this weekend a live stream, and a range of interviews and videos will be made available via www.facebook.com/V8Superboats where results and updates will also be posted, but if you live in the area, do yourself a big favour, and drop down to Lake Centenary in Temora to take in some of the action live, you certainly won’t be disappointed!
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Rnd#5 2022 Australian V8 Superboats Championship presented by Penrite
Lake Centenary, Temora, NSW
03 December, 2022
UNLIMITED SUPERBOAT
1. Phonsy Mullan/Leigh Stewart (RAMJET)
28. Daryl Hutton/Mick Parry (Phoenix Lubricants/Hazardous)
37. Scott Krause/Rachel Parsons (KAOS)
44. Chris Edmonds/Jamie Maroney (Non-Hazardous)
214. Simon Doyle/Simon Williams (The Girlfriend)
888. Glenn Roberts/James Parsons (Blown Budget)
400-CLASS (GROUP A)
2. Jody Ely/Jessica Webb (Rampage)
4. Brendan Doyle/Rory Doyle (PULSE)
43. Darrin Kesper/Kayla Foote (Let’s Boogie)
45. Danny Knappick/Darren Tickell (Tuff N Up)
81. Daniel Warburton/Ryan Loft (Team Attitude)
863. Hugh Gilchrist/Narelle Pellow-Djukic (Mattrix)
LS-CLASS
1A. Bastian Mullan/Tahleah James (RIPSHIFT)
1B. Nate Mullan/Cain Wallace (RIPSHIFT)
14A. Lawrie Howlett/Karen Howlett (Drop Bear)
14B. Karen Howlett/Lawrie Howlett (Drop Bear)
29A. Ron O’Day/Paris O’Day (Agro-Vation)
29B. Tyler O’Day/Xavier Jackson (Agro-Vation)
46. Jim Beaman/Erin Collins (JB Racing)
69A. Matt Malthouse/Leighton Collins (Nood Nutz Racing)
69B. Mitch Malthouse/Harrison Collins (Nood Nutz Racing)
114. Rob Johnston/Grant Dodd (Almost There)
212. Lance Edmonds/Peter Sendy (Solid Gold)
219. Kyle Elphinstone/Jacob Bellamy (Blackout Racing)
269. Noel Verning/Nathan Garrett (Quiet Time)
370. Mike Hessell/Ruairi Crilly (Borrowed Time)
512. Paul Hill/ Alex Singleton (Slicer)
Junior Development
97A. Koby Bourke (Lil Psycho)
97B. Connor Smith (Lil Psycho)
97C. Eliza Roylance (Lil Pyscho)*
* on ‘starter’ key
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RACE SCHEDULE
Saturday, 03 December, 2022;
12:30pm – Gates Open (practice laps commence)
1:30pm – Qualifying #1 (60-minutes)
2:30pm – Qualifying #2 (60-minutes)
3:30pm – Qualifying #3 (60-minutes)
4:30pm – Qualifying #4 (60-minutes)
5:30pm – Qualifying #5 (60-minutes)
6:30pm – Junior Development FINAL
6:30pm – Top 12 Finals (LS-Class/400-Class/Unlimited)
7:10pm – Dinner break (sunset – 60-minutes)
8:10pm – Top 6 Final (LS-Class/400-Class/Unlimited)
9:00pm – FINALS (LS-Class/400-Class/Unlimited)
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V8 Superboats and Temora – HISTORY
Rnd#4 2022 Australian V8 Superboats Championship presented by Penrite
Kennards Hire Park, Lake Centenary, Temora, New South Wales
05 November, 2022
FINAL RESULTS
TOP 3 FINAL
Unlimited Superboat
1. 1. Phonsy Mullan/Leigh Stuart (RAMJET) – 45.901
2. 28. Daryl Hutton/Mick Parry (Hazardous) – 47.066
3. 32. Tyler Finch/Jarrod Ballard (Loose Cannon) – ww
400-Class (Group A)
1. 4. Brendan Doyle/Rory Doyle (PULSE) – 52.202
2. 863. Hugh Gilchrist/Narelle Pellow-Djukic (MATTRIX) – 58.536
3. 43. Darrin Kesper/Kayle Foote (Let’s Boogie) – 63.344
LS-Class
1. 1A. Bastian Mullan/Tahleah James (RIPSHIFT) – 48.286
2. 69. Matt Malthouse/Leighton Collins (NoodNutz Racing) – 50.252
3. 219. Kyle Elphinstone/Jacob Bellamy (Blackout Racing) – 50.721
Junior Development*
1. 97A. Koby Bourke (Lil Pyscho) – 51.615
2. 97B. Connor Smith (Lil Pyscho) – 52.202
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Rnd#2 2021 Penrite V8 Superboat Championships
Kennards Hire Lake Centenary, Temora, NSW
01 May, 2021
FINAL RESULTS
TOP 3 FINAL
Unlimited Superboat
1. 1. Slade Stanley/Vanessa Stanley (Hazardous) – 38.107
2. 23. Phonsy Mullan/Leigh Stuart (RAMJET) – 39.729
3. 37. Scott Krause/Rachel Parsons (KAOS) – 40.438
400-Class (Group A)
1. 67. Justin Roylance/Tracey Little (Outlaw67) – 42.287
2. 33. Jody Ely/Greg Blaz (Rampage) – 42.368
3. 214. Brendan Doyle/Rory Doyle (The Girlfriend) – 43.656
LS-Class
1. 22A. Bastian Mullan/Amelie Kallus (Ripshift) – 43.548
2. 69A. Matt Malthouse/Leighton Collins (NoodNutz Racing) – 43.750
3. 22B. Nate Mullan/Coda Kolak (Ripshift) – DNF
Junior Development
1. 97. Koby Bourke (Lil Pyscho) – 46.259
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Rnd#1 2020 Penrite Australian V8 Superboat Championships
Saturday, 29 February, 2020;
TOP 3 FINAL
Unlimited Superboat
1. 08. Slade Stanley/Vanessa Stanley (Hazardous) – 38.642
2. 37. Scott Krause/Rachel Parsons (KAOS) – 40.706
3. 28. Daryl Hutton/Mick Parry (Phoenix Lubricants) – 40.825
400-Class (Group A)
1. 67. Justin Roylance/Michelle Hodge (Outlaw67) – 43.061
2. 3. Sean Rice/Tracey Little (Cosa Nostra 2) – 43.095
3. 53. Brett Thornton/Lyn Thornton (Still Obsessed) – 44.865
LS-Class
1. 69B. Ben Hathaway/Lisa Oppes (NoodNutz Racing) – 42.888
2. 26. Daniel Salter/Mitchell Hade (The Hustler) – 44.262
3. 6B. Kyle Elphinstone/Rob Wells (Gone Nutz Again) – DNF
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Rnd#6 2019 Penrite V8 Superboat Championships
Kennards Hire Park, Lake Centenary, Temora
19 October, 2019
TOP 3 FINAL
Unlimited Superboat
1. 08. Slade Stanley/Vanessa Stanley (Hazardous) – 38.294
2. 01. Scott Krause/Rachel Parsons (KAOS) – 39.968
3. 1. Phonsy Mullan/Madeline Chorley (RAMJET) – 40.068
400-Class (Group A)
1. 40. Paul Kelly/Naomi Gow (4Zero Racing) – 42.266
2. 67. Justin Roylance/Michelle Hodge (Outlaw67) – 43.099
3. 2. Ben Hathaway/Lisa Oppes (Warren & Brown Tools Racing) – 43.123
LS-Class
1. 62. Andrew Medlicott/Phil Shead (Gone Nutz Again) – 46.888
2. 380. Dwayne Mezzadri/Mathew Wall (Unleashed) – 47.040
3. 17B. Kyle Reynolds/Brendon Young (Red Rum) – DNF
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Rnd#2 2019 Penrite V8 Superboat Championships
4 May, 2019 (Colin Parish Memorial)
TOP 3 FINAL
Unlimited Superboat
1. 08. Slade Stanley/Vanessa Stanley (Hazardous) – 37.687
2. 1. Phonsy Mullan/Madeline Chorley (RAMJET) – 42.073
3. 41. Mick Carroll/Daniel Kelly (Excalibur) – 45.724
TOP 3 FINAL
400-Class (Group A)
1. 40. Paul Kelly/Naomi Gow (4Zero Racing) – 42.038
2. 2. Ben Hathaway/Lisa Oppes (Warren & Brown Tools Racing) – 42.459
3. 33. Jody Ely/Greg Blaz (Rampage) – 1:03.227
LS-Class
1. 219. Kyle Elphinstone/Ryan Burke (Blackout Racing) – 47.656
2. 62. Andrew Medlicott/Phil Shead (Gone Nutz Again) – 49.565
3. 17. Graham Reynolds/Chloe Reynolds (Red Rum) – 51.212
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2022 Australian V8 Superboats Championships presented by Penrite – Series Points
Unlimited Superboat (after round four of seven)
1. Phonsy Mullan (RAMJET) – 144-points, 2. Daryl Hutton (Phoenix Lubricants) – 120, 3. Glenn Roberts (Blown Budget) – 110, 4. Rob Coley (Poison Ivy) – 109, 5. Chris Edmonds (Non-Hazardous) – 90, 6. Scott Krause (KAOS) – 81, 7. Tremayne Jukes (The Girlfriend) – 54, 8. Tyler Finch (Loose Cannon) – 30, 9. Sam Everingham (Excalibur) – 28, 10. Simon Doyle (The Girlfriend) – 22
400-Class (Group A) (after round four of seven)
1. Brendan Doyle (PULSE) – 135-points, 2. Jody Ely (Rampage) – 131, 3. Danny Knappick (Tuff’n Up) – 112, 4. Justin Roylance (Outlaw67) – 81, 5. Darrin Kesper (Let’s Boogie) – 78, 6. Greg Harriman (Apache) – 56, 7. Paul Kelly (4Zero) – 52, 8. Daniel Warburton (Team Attitude) – 48, 9. Hugh Gilchrist (Mattrix) – 33, 10. Brett Thornton (Still Obsessed) – 24
LS-Class (after round four of seven)
1. Bastian Mullan (Ripshift) – 144-points, 2. Kyle Elphinstone (Blackout Racing) – 126, 3. Matt Malthouse (NoodNutz Racing) – 122, 4. Tyler O’Day (Agro-Vation) – 100, 5. Nate Mullan (Ripshift) – 98, 5. Paul Hill (Slicer) – 98, 7. Lawrie Howlett (Drop Bear) – 86, 8. Mike Hessell (Borrowed Time) – 78, 9. Noel Verning (Quiet Time) – 60, 10. Ron O’Day (Agro-Vation) – 50, 11. Lance Edmonds (Solid Gold) – 46, 12. Jim Beaman (JB Racing) – 40, 13. Jade Atchison (Twisted) – 28, 14. Luke Walters (The Spartan) – 26, 15. Rob Johnston (Almost There) – 24, 16. Matt Riley (Toe Cutter) – 18, 17. Darren Pollard (Disturbed) – 16, 18. Mitch Malthouse (NoodNutz Racing) – 4, 19. James Machan (Twisted) – 2
Junior Development (after round four of seven)
1. Connor Smith (Lil Psycho) – 132-points, 2. Koby Bourke (Lil Psycho) – 108, 3. Eliza Roylance (Lil Pyscho) – 36
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2022 Australian V8 Superboats Championships presented by Penrite
Rnd#1 – Tweed Coast, NSW – 23-24 July, 2022
Rnd#2 – Tweed Coast, NSW – 27-28 August, 2022
Rnd#3 – Keith, SA – 8 October, 2022
Rnd#4 – Temora, NSW – 5 November, 2022 (Colin Parish Memorial)
Rnd#5 – Temora, NSW – 3 December, 2022
Rnd#6 – Griffith, NSW – 11 February, 2023
Rnd#7 [FINAL] – Keith, SA – 25 March, 2023
About Penrite
Founded in Melbourne in 1926 by – then – 16-year old Les Mecoles, Penrite Oil utilised high-quality lubricants from Pennsylvania [USA] base stocks, hence the name ‘Pen’ from the base stock and ‘rite’ for the right oil.
In 1979, due to ill health, Les sold the company to John and Margaret Dymond. A mechanical engineer by trade and a car enthusiast at heart, John rapidly expanded the Penrite range of products. His technical background and commitment to quality ensured that Penrite continued to produce the highest quality products becoming the market leader in Australian oil and lubricants.
90 years on from those early beginnings the Dymond family have built Penrite into one of Australia’s most prominent and recognised brands.
The iconic Australian-made and owned lubricants company has a simple philosophy: ‘the right product for the right application’.
Penrite Oil Company produces a large range of high-quality products suited to the Australian conditions including the exciting 10 Tenths Racing Oils range which offers a superior package of performance and protection for both competition and high performance engines.
For more information about the extensive range of Penrite Oils available, visit www.penriteoil.com.au
For more information on the 2022 Australian V8 Superboat Championships, please visit www.v8superboats.com.au
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