Australian V8 Superboat Championship - Phonsy Mullan opens his account

by Sean Henshelwood on 12 Mar 2015 Australian V8 Superboat Championships - Dual Australian Unlimited Superboat champion Phonsy Mullan has opened his 2015 championship account in perfect fashion in front of a record crowd under lights at Max Hire Park in Temora, after dominating the opening round from first practice.

Campaigning his twin-turbo 445 cubic-inch small block V8 powered ramjet, the Victorian was the class of the field, holding out until the very last run of the night to set a blistering time of 38.954-seconds, more than a second and a half faster than Ted Sygidus and younger brother Darek who placed second and third in their Unlimited Superboat ‘Frankenstein’.

Whilst the pace of the 1400-horsepower RAMJET had the big Temora crowd on their feet, former 350-Class champion Mark Garlick and reigning AUS#2 Damian O’Leary thrilled the crowd with their battle at the front of the 400-Class field. The duo were rarely separated by more than a few tenths of a second, with the lead swapping all the way through the event until Garlick used his years of experience to take the final by a mere two tenths of a second.

The outstanding start to the 2015 season though came as a result of some serious commitment from the competitors that make up the Australian Formula Jet Sprint Association [AFJSA] executive committee. Ted and Darek Sygidus like Brooke Avenell and Greg Mercier spent the weekend juggling driving duties with the operation and management of the event, a tough task in which they were assisted by former World Champion Slade Stanley and 400-Class regular Justin Roylance, both of whom were instrumental in the preparation of the Temora event.

'There’s a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes away from an event,' AFJSA President Ted Sygidus explained. 'So to kick off the year with one of the biggest Temora crowd’s on record is justification to all the effort and hours that those people have put in - we couldn’t be happier with the result.'

Whilst a conservative field of entries by recent standards, no-one could deny the appeal of the V8 Superboats, with big crowds, lots of families and some exceptionally long lines during the dinner break looking for posters and autographs..

'To be honest, I’ve never seen that before.' Phonsy Mullan admitted with a smile. 'It was great to see so many people, but the thing that got me was the kids.. Not only were they genuinely interested, they also knew what the sport was about.. I was really blown away!'

Whilst the crowds were strong, the action on track too was impressive, although there were some casualties.. Reigning world #2 Greg Mercier was forced to retire his primary boat ACOL Racing after the late arrival of the engine from New Zealand saw him run out of time to be ready - a frustration for the team who had driven through the night from Melbourne.

Despite that, he was quickly offered the ‘B’ drive in Brooke Avenell’s ‘Hi-Tec Oils’, but by Q3 both teams were out after a mechanical failure sidelined Mercier in his second run.

Former V8 Superboat President Daniel deVoigt was then forced to join fellow Queenslander Brad Marsden after his primary boat suffered a cracked hull thanks to contact with the bank in qualifying, whilst Superboat rookie Dave Moody from nearby Forbes was one of few boats to leave the water after jumping an island near the completion of his run in qualifying, fortunately without damage.

Ultimately though Mullan was too good for the field, topping the timesheets in every session, although despite being unchallenged at the top of the leaderboard, he didn’t come through the weekend unscathed.

'We suffered a broken jet unit in qualifying and whilst the boys tried their best to fix it, we battled through in the end. Fortunately we weren’t pushed too hard, so I didn’t have to lean on it, but I did want to end the night on a high and give the crowd something to scream about, so we pushed extra hard in the final run despite the fast that Frankenstein was unable to make a start.'??'We suffered an engine issue just prior to the final,' runner-up Ted Sygidus admitted. 'The engine may have made a run, but it could also have done some seriously terminal damage, so we elected to sit out the final. In the end Phonsy was just too good, and sadly we lost Brooke and Greg Mercier which would really have spiced up the top three, but we’re starting to get on top of our ‘little’ 750-horsepower 410 cubic-inch V8 and look forward to getting our ‘big’ engine back in time for Cabarita in late May.'

In 400-Class the battle between Mark Garlick and Damian O’Leary intensified across the night. O’Leary held the early advantage in his ‘borrowed’ ride, whilst Garlick was looking to keep ‘Grumpy’s’ leaderboard challenge alive whilst reigning national champion - son Jake - was absent with work commitments. Despite leading into the finals, it was Garlick who grabbed the top spot in the Top 12, before O’Leary struck back in the Top six, Garlick though using his years of experience in the sport to dig deep and grab the top honours in the final despite a nasty moment mid lap.

'The old Tuff-Tak hull is perfectly suited to smooth water and we were up by a full second at the first spilt, but then I got crossed up as I came back across the wash and had to come out of the throttle, but we held on and made it by two tenths of a second,' Garlick recalled. 'It was one of the toughest battles I’ve had, but I really enjoyed it. Damian drove brilliantly, even in a borrowed boat, I just hope we see him back for the next event, although that said, I wouldn’t mind a crack at the title, so I’m okay if he stays at home with the family..!'

Third overall in 400-Class was Greg Harriman in the Pangaea Floors supported Mackraft, with long-time competitor Kevin Laugesen (spanet) a close fourth.

Round two of the 2015 season now moves to the Tweed Coast circuit at Cabarita on the north coast of New South Wales in late May (23-24) after the cancellation of the Easter event at Griffith.

Max Hire Park is proudly supported by Max Hire, Intersales Temora, Temora Fuel Distributors and Temora Shire Council.

Rnd#1 2015 Australian Superboat Championships
MAX HIRE Park, Temora, NSW (7 March, 2015)

FINAL
Unlimited Superboat

1. Phonsy Mullan/Kelsie Gill (RAMJET) - 38.954
2. Ted Sygidus/Braydon Houston (Frankenstein) - NTR
3. Darek Sygidus/Austin Gill (Frankenstein) - NTR

400 Class (Group A)

1. Mark Garlick/Rachael Parsons (Grumpy) - 43.655?
2. Damian O'Leary/Mick Carroll (Kryptonite) - 43.855
3. Greg Harriman/Sammy Leonard (Pangaea Floors) - 45.598

Top six final

Unlimited superboat
1. Phonsy Mullan/Kelsie Gill (RAMJET) - 39.933?
2. Ted Sygidus/Braydon Houston (Frankenstein) - 40.708
3. Darek Sygidus/Austin Gill (Frankenstein) - 41.718
4. Jamie Welch/Simone Craige (Natwel Racing) - 41.853
5. Paul Burgess/Liam Hayes (Daly Transport) - 46.244
6. Cheryl Welch/Shauna Dean (Natwel Racing) - 46.330

400 Class (Group A)
1. Damian O'Leary/Mick Carroll (Kryptonite) - 43.722
2. Mark Garlick/Rachael Parsons (Grumpy) - 45.055?
3. Greg Harriman/Sammy Leonard (Pangaea Floors) - 46.189
4. Dave Moody (Jackhammer) - 47.928
5. Kevin Laugesen/Jessica Winsley (SpaNet) - 48.967
6. Brad Marsden (Allcott Transformer) - DNS

2015 Australian V8 Superboat Championships - Series points
Unlimited Superboat (after round one of six)
1. Phonsy Mullan (RAMJET) - 36 points, 2. Ted Sygidus (Frankenstein) - 33, 3. Darek Sygidus (Frankenstein) - 30, 4. Jamie Welch (Natwel Racing) - 28, 5. Paul Burgess (Daly Transport) - 26, 6. Cheryl Welch (Natwel Racing) - 24, 7. Daniel deVoigt (Q-BEARS) - 22, 8. Brooke Avenell (Hi-Tec Oils) - 20, 9. Greg Mercier (ACOL Racing) - 18

400-Class (Group A) (after round one of six)
1. Mark Garlick (Grumpy) - 36 points, 2. Damian O’Leary (Kryptonite) - 33, 3. Greg Harriman (Pangaea Floors) - 30, 4. Dave Moody (Jackhammer) - 28, 5. Kevin Laugesen (spanet) - 26, 6. Brad Marsden (Allcott Transformer) - 24

2015 Australian Superboat Championships

Rnd#1 - 7 March, Temora (NSW)
Rnd#2 - 23-24 May, Tweed Coast (NSW)
Rnd#3 - 8-9 August, Tweed Coast (NSW)
Rnd#4 - 26 September, (venue TBC)
Rnd#5 - 24 October, Temora (NSW)
Rnd#6 - 21-22 November, Tweed Coast (NSW)

For more information on the 2015 Australian V8 Superboat Championships, please visit www.v8superboats.com.au
www.facebok.com/V8Superboats

For more information or high-resolution images, please contact;
AFJSA Media Manager;
Sean Henshelwood?
Email: 321ignitionmag@gmail.com
Mobile: 0419 143 267

All photographs supplied by Russell Puckeridge from Pureart Creative Images