TIM MAY EMERGES KING OF THE CASTLE
22nd June 2009.
By Glen Laundy
Tim May had a reliable day at the racing and made a clean sweep of the final HI POINTS round at Gillman yesterday, eclipsing Tony Walsh and Bruce Jordan's lead on the points table.
Without taking anything away from May's performance, the Premier Class racing yesterday was somewhat of a let down due to several boats pulling out. Despite The Boss crew looking forward to putting the championship leaders on toast, it was not to be. Fans will have to wait for August to see the red and green battle take place.
The only competition for May came via Jeff Stunell who was trialling an ex sprint car engine in his boat In Excess. The 800 horsepower grunter showed some good signs during the racing and Stunell managed to surprise May by going underneath him in some of the corners. The 410 cubic inch injected small block however encountered oil pressure problems throughout the day and failed to finish a race. This made it all too easy for May who cruised home to take the 2008/2009 Championship.
The Modified class looked to produce the best racing of the day, however top contender Bondage (driven this time by Chris Phelps) broke down in race 1. This left Tom Barnhard in his newly repaired Evercraft Bite Me to take the honors in all of the races, making him the highest point scorer of the series. Well done to the Bite Me crew who have been consistent, fast, neat & tidy on the water all season.
Despite their mechanical gremlins, the Bondage crew managed to accumulate 650 points enabling them to cling on to second spot in the championship, narrowly beating a highly improved John Warren in Balls'n'All who ran very closely with Barnhard throughout the day.
The hotly contested Formula Stock class was great to watch with some very close racing between JAC Racing and Proformance. With a championship on the line Dean Borg shared the driving with daughter Ellise and the move appeared to pay dividends with Proformance emerging victorious for the day, 900 points ahead of rival Chris Wellington. This however was not enough to move ahead on the points tally.
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| Photos by Annette Attwood |
Matt Smith encountered some problems with his boat 'Bout Time and was an early omission, leaving hydroplane Rasputin driven by Jamie Reu to round out the field. Some great driving saw Reu take second for the day with 2300 points.
Third for the day was Chris Wellington who scored more than enough points to hold his lead in the championship, and a well deserved first place for the year was an excellent way to finish off his 2008/2009 season.
In the Supersport class it was all Geoff Cutler in Shortcut who was the overall winner for the day and is now the 2008/2009 HI POINTS Champion for Supersport. His mono hull sat beautifully all day and certainly looked the quickest out there. Second for the day was series leader Shane Rundle in Spitfire, but his points tally was not enough to fend off a charging Cutler.
Third place went to Ryan Stunell in Ratbag who despite trying his hardest could not nudge ahead of Rundle or Cutler. As a result Stunell had to settle for third in the championship, a mere 180 points behind second place.
In race 1 of the Supersport there was a collision between two boats at turn one. I will have to get confirmation on which boats exactly, but can report that damage was only minor (both boats completed the race) and no drivers were hurt.
Our latest champion in Formula Future is yet another Stunell in Adam who took a clean sweep of the racing in The Menace ahead of Braydon Amato in TAFE SA and Aaron Dennis in Lil' Ripper. Well done to all 3 drivers who have had a great years racing.
A special mention to 6 litre hydroplane team Disturbed who despite suffering from ignition problems throughout the day showed some exciting levels of speed both on the straights and in the turns during practice. Mark Ward had it sitting pretty, throwing an enormous rooster tail while hitting speeds well in excess of 100mph. We all look forward to seeing this boat in its next race.
Congratulations to all our HI POINTS Championship winners and their respective crews. A fantastic effort and we look forward to seeing you all back on the water next season.
Premier Class Champion: Tim May, The Boss
Modified Class Champion: Tom Barnhard, Bite Me
Formula Stock Champion: Chris Wellington, JAC Racing
Supersport Champion: Geoff Cutler, Shortcut
Formula Future Champion: Adam Stunell, The Menace
CONGRATULATIONS DRIVERS!
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