‘Simrad’ turns the tables on team mate ‘Maritimo’

by Bob Wonders on 5 May 2009 The fifth round of the Nautilus Marine Offshore Superboat Championships off Newcastle has been a triumph for the Maritimo Offshore Race Team, with its boats taking 1, 2 and 3 in Class I.

‘Simrad’, with Peter McGrath on throttles and Luke Durman at the wheel charged over 14 laps of the course in 61 minutes, 26 seconds at an average speed of 138mph (222km/hr) to defeat ‘Maritimo’ by more than two minutes.

‘Maritimo’ throttleman Ross Willaton summed up the result perfectly; 'We got flogged,' he said.

'Peter McGrath had ‘Simrad’ set up perfectly and he and Luke drove superbly.

'They shot out of the blocks at the start and led all the way, Tom Barry-Cotter and I were never in the hunt.'

Third boat home to complete the Maritimo trifecta was ‘The Good Guys’ the boat leased and serviced by Maritimo to Mackay youngsters Brendan and Christopher Frier, who covered 12 laps in the very good time of 65 minutes.

Conditions were somewhat patchy with low cloud, light rain and a 1.5-metre inconsistent chop offshore.

Durman was delighted with the victory, more so after three successive DNF results all due to the proverbial ’10 cent component’ in ‘Simrad’s previous three outings.

'The boat ran beautifully,' he said.

'We topped out at about 6200rpm and the supercharged MerCruiser engines ran flawlessly,' he added.

‘Team 3’, home in fourth place, with Steve Nugent and Craig Archer aboard, was the only other boat to finish in Class 1.

‘Impact Steel’ (Steve Jellick and Colin Craven) looked good early, but failed to finish as did ‘Acme Racing’ (Andrew and Christopher Searle).

‘Global Racing’ (Mike Beil and Travis Thompson) struck major problems when it lost a drive during practice forcing the crew to change both drives in readiness for the race.

However, a steering hose was severed on the way to the start line forcing the crew to withdraw.

Mat Humphrey and Simon Isherwood (SUV Dodge Ram) continued on their merry way in Supercat Outboard with their fourth win from five starts, their only ‘failure’ a second place in the third round.

Arch-rival ‘Saracen’ (Antony de Fina and Nigel Craven) maintained its consistency with a strong second placing, the only other class entry ‘Kwozzy 2’ scoring the dreaded DNF.

In Supercat Outboard Lite, Mick Walker and Gary Smith, in ‘Team Tiger’, continued to dominate the class, now boasting four victories and a lone DNF (round two) to open up a commanding lead in the overall point score.

Ian Harris and Graham Fraser in ‘Berwicks HF Marine’ were also consistent, logging their third successive second placing ahead of ‘Shaken Not Stirred’ (Brian Dale and Mark Taylor/Brooke Ullrich) which made a comeback after three DNS.

Paul Gibbs and Paul Fowlds were unable to get ‘Hog’s Breath’ to the finish line for a second DNF as they struggle to get their new boat ‘humming.’

‘Maritimo’ continues to hold a solid lead in the overall point score in ‘Aus 1’ and the ‘Mark Lee Trophy’ with 1875 points.

Despite its DNS at Newcastle, ‘Global Racing’ hangs on to second place by the proverbial fingernails with 1200 points which ‘Simrad’ thanks to its Newcastle effort joins ‘Acme Racing’ at third spot on the leader board with 1075 points.

Mat Humphrey and Simon Isherwood (SUV Dodge Ram) are assured of an Australian championship, their massive 2275 points giving them an unbeatable lead in Supercat Outboard.

'Saracen’ is second on 1525 points then it’s a long way back to ‘Kwozzy 2’ (750 points) and ‘Blade Custom Boats’ (450).

In Supercat Outboard Lite, it’s a case of ‘down to the wire’ for ‘Team Tiger’ and ‘Berwicks HF Marine’, only 250 points separating the two.

‘Shaken Not Stirred’ (675 points) and ‘Hog’s Breath (525) are too far behind the challenge.

The offshore fleet’s focus is now on the tropical north, with Townsville set for the penultimate round of the Offshore Superboat Championships over the weekend of July 4 and 5.

Organisers have altered the calendar and have added the Redcliffe race (12-13 September) as a seventh (and final) round of the 2009 championships.

Previously, Redcliffe has been the opening round, but organisers felt it was more advantageous to have the entire series run in the same calendar year.

For further information visit the website, www.aopc.com.au