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June, 2008
SOUTH AUSTRALIAN STATE TITLES
By Glen Laundy.
The APBA state title in S.A for season 2007/2008 comes from humble beginnings. To win when you expect is to achieve your goals, to win when you're not aiming for first place can exceed your wildest dreams. And this is certainly the theme when it comes to an old partnership - Neil Laundy has been back in the seat of 'Insanity', and he, together with Ken & "The Mob", campaigned the historic Blown Alcohol Displacement back to the top on the local racing scene.
"I'm not here to win" Neil would say if you asked of his expectations before a raceday. Even minutes before getting in the seat before the race, he would pledge "I might just let them go at the start Ken, I'll just hang back". Maybe it was nerves, maybe not. But make no mistake- whenever the flag dropped, the bulls*#t stopped.
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| Rarely seen from Laundy, Insanity on a slight prop walk exiting a corner |
The first round at the North arm saw Neil head to head with Dave Satterly in 'Titan', together with 'Red Bellies' from interstate which was in the process of testing a new Toyoto 3ltr turbo outfit. The terminal speed from this boat was on another level compared to the upcoming State Champion, but corners were another matter. Neil was soon back to his best and rounding up the field by the time 3 laps were done & dusted. It was a welcome reunion of the master and his accomplice, some 5 years after last racing together.
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| Neil executing a trademark maneuver in the corner, passing 'No Remorse' |
Round 2 at Berri saw Neil confidently take the win in all 4 of his races, and witnesses would say he certainly looked at home in freshwater on the Mighty Murray. A totally clean run all day long- 'Insanity' never missed a beat. Unfortunately 'Titan' suffered a problem with the supercharger which managed to mill a hole in itself. Let's hope Dave & the team will be back on the water soon.
By round 3, 'Insanity' only needed to hit the water to take out the title, and did just that. Despite some problems with the barrel valve and a slightly richer & conservative fuel mixture, she made it across the line in each race, much to owner Ken's surprise. "I thought she was gonna give up on us" Ken admits by season end. Jeff Stunell proved way too fast for Neil to keep up on this occasion, after he had managed to knock him off at the Dorwin Gold Cup just a few weeks prior.
So not for the first time, Neil Laundy and 'Insanity' have their names on the state title trophy for unlimited. Congratulations to Ken & the team for getting the winning combination together, and we look forwad to seeing 'SO2' back on the water soon.
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