|
|
||||
          
|
1992 RaceRacing took place February 13th & 14th 1993 Final Results
Committee Members 1992
Peter Glanville (President),
Barrie Beehag, Dick Phillips, Kerry Floyd, Harley Nicholls
Program Cover 1992
Media Release after the event1992 TISDALL WINES SOUTHERN 80 The 1992 Tisdall Wines Southern 80 promised plenty, and delivered even more. The race now had more entries than it’s northern adversary, the Sydney Bridge to Bridge, and with over 30,000 people cramming the river banks and perfect weather, the scene was set for a race of the ages. However, the 1992 Southern 80 seemed to have a familiar face missing - the three time race winner, Ted Hurley, had unfortunately passed away due to cancer back in June of 1991. After winning twice outright with Rolco, in 1982 and 84, and once outright with Recovery, in 1987, the M.W.S.C. decided to inaugurate the Ted Hurley Memorial Trophy, which is to be awarded to the winners of the Bakers Blitz. Ted Hurley wasn’t the only one missing from the 1992 Southern 80, as Echuca and Moama’s favourite boat, two times race winner Island Cooler, had been retired after a short but extremely successful career. Owner Dennis Rowbottom couldn’t find the vast amount of funding needed to run a Super Class boat, leaving Cooler’s legions of fans to find another boat to support. As is often the case with water ski racing, the demise of one boat is overshadowed by the arrival of another boat - and in 1992, all eyes were on the new boat on the block, God’s Gift. The boat, powered by a state of the art twin-turbocharged, fuel injected 481 c.i. Rodeck, also sported one of the most awesome paint jobs ever seen on a boat, guaranteeing it’s future as a crowd favourite. As usual, 25 of the fastest boats converged on the Five Mile boat ramp for Saturday’s Bakers Blitz, all of them keen to secure themselves a position high up in the starting order. This year’s Blitz featured something different - for the first time, four female skiers were to compete. Reg Astill’s Top Shot, from Broken Hill, was towing local skier Joanne Hamilton along with Timi Fitos, whilst Black Magic, from Lake Boga, was towing Jacinta Glynn and Megan Smith. After finishing in second outright last year, Noel Kelly had again brought Gotta be Crazy down from Queensland, although this year it was renamed and repainted as Tisdall Wines. The name change didn’t alter the team’s performance, however, with the boys finishing the Blitz in a time of 7.34, which was good enough to secure pole position for Sunday’s race. Only two seconds behind them was the team from Thundernuts, with Brett Dominguez and Steve Morley in tow. Owner Mick Dominguez had upgraded from the old 20 foot Everingham to a brand new 21 foot Everingham, and the boat impressed in it’s first run down the river. Last year’s race winner, Mercury Bullet, took out third place in the blitz, finishing in a time of 7.40. Scott Kell and Gavin Arnott where again the skiers, while Lindsay Beer was behind the wheel. Close behind in fourth place was God’s Gift, who stormed accross the finish line at an amazing 154 km/hr. Their two skiers, Wade Bennett and Rory Brown, finished the Blitz course in a time of seven minutes, forty-three seconds. Next home were the first of the girls, with Jo Hamilton and Timi Fitos placing fifth in their first Bakers’ Blitz. The Top Shot team finished in a time of 7.56, just ahead of Formula One, who were one second behind with a time of 7.57. Bad Habits and Gatecrasher took out seventh and eighth places in the Blitz, with both boats finishing in 8.03. Four seconds behind them was a struggling Recovery, driven by Murray Price with Glynn "Butch" Hurley observing, while faulty spark plugs relegated Solid Gold back to tenth place, finishing in a time of 8.08. As usual, the 92 Bakers’ Blitz wasn’t without it’s fair share of action. 1991 World Champion, Paul Robertson, was skiing behind Titan when he was towed to close to shore, came off, and skidded up the bank on his back. Fortunately, he escaped without any major injuries. The yellow and blue Everingham Bull twaddle also provided some excitement when the motor seized, submerging the whole boat and then re-emerged heading towards their own skiers! After all the action and excitement of Saturday’s Bakers’ Blitz, there were some high expectations for Sunday’s big race. Tisdall Wines, a.k.a. Gotta be Crazy, had secured pole position for the Super Class, and their skiers, Mark Pickering and Ray Brennan, were confident of victory. The team got a great start at Torrumbarry, and only thirty-three minutes later, the boat rounded the final corner and crossed the finish line in a new record time of 33.37. The team had managed to slice a massive 41 seconds off Island Cooler’s 1990 race record, but they had less than a minute to enjoy their success. Taking off from second place, Thundernuts, towing 17 year-old Brett Dominguez and 16 year-old Steve Morley, scorched down the 82 km course to finish in a time of 33.34, three seconds quicker than Tisdall Wines. Driver Mike Dominguez and observer Eugene Bonello couldn’t believe their luck, as it was the first time the big 21 foot Everingham had tackled the Southern 80. Last year’s outright winner, Mercury Bullet, took off in third position, and their two skiers, Scott Kell and Gavin Arnott, crossed the Victoria Park finish line in a time of 34.02, sixteen seconds under the previous race record. However, their efforts were only good enough to secure third place, in one of the most tightly contested Southern 80 in recent memory. Fourth outright went to Solid Gold, who were relegated back to tenth position in the Blitz after faulty spark plugs. On their way down the river, they overtook five boats, including God’s Gift and Recovery only three minutes from the finish! With Ian Calder behind the wheel and Bevan O’Keefe keeping an eagle eye out for Brandon Calder and Damien Khaal, the team managed to finish in a time of 35.20. Recovery, Ted Hurley’s old boat, came in for fifth overall, although an ailing motor towards the end of the race ended any hopes they had of victory. Don Matthews’ beautiful supercharged Everingham, Corruption, came in for sixth overall, towing his son Damien Matthews and Jamie Oliver, both formerly of Island Cooler fame. Rampage, towing Tim and Matt Campbell, came in for seventh place outright, whilst following them home was Terry Ryan’s Minimum Fuss. The boat didn’t finish the Blitz, and the team was relegated back to 24th position. They recorded the quickest time to the half way mark, but not long after skier Geoff Hardaker had a heavy fall, which took about five minutes to recover from. They finished in a respectable time of 38.50, six seconds ahead of Trust Me, which finished in ninth overall. Although Thundernuts took the outright honors, Tisdall Wines finished first in Super Class, followed in by Mercury Bullet in second. Third went to Recovery, driven by Murray Price, with Glynn Hurley observing and Phil Robinson and Bruce Scott skiing. Ian Tricker’s twin-rig, Trust Me, towing Peter McDonagh and R. Moore, easily took out the Unlimited Inboard / Outboard class, winning by over four minutes. Second home was local boat Shelshot, followed by Mr. Motion. There was no doubt that the 1992 Tisdall Wines Southern 80 was dominated by the Under 19 Boys and Girls. Thundernuts not only took outright honors and set a new race record, they sliced nearly ten minutes off Richochet’s old Under 19 record, and etched their names in the record books for quite some time. Solid Gold took second in Under 19’s, some reward for their fantastic fourth outright. Coming in for third place, and seventh overall, was the team from Rampage, a fantastic effort. In the Open Women’s, Black Magic, towing Megan Smith and Jacinta Glynn, broke the previous race record, finishing in a time of 41.59. They weren’t the only girls to triumph, with Sue Taylor and Lee Hicks taking out the Under 16’s skiing behind Firebird Marine.
|
|||
|
Do you wish
to join our e-mail list?
|
||||
|
To view our Privacy Policy click here |
This
page was last updated |
|||
|
Suppliers of
|
||||
