MEDIA RELEASE - Monday, 12 March 2007FURTHER FRUSTRATIONS FOR RED BELLIES IN WELLINGTON |
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Round four of the 2007 New Zealand Offshore Powerboat Series in Wellington brought more of the same frustrations that have hounded Australia's Red Bellies Racing in the season to date. After mechanical gremlins in rounds two and three, stemming from an opening round crash, Red Bellies travelled to the New Zealand capital eager to score a strong result and kick-start their season. However, their best efforts again counted for little on race day, when the Bruce Sanders and Colin Craven entry took to the water. "It was another disappointing weekend," Sanders reflected. "On the warm-up lap, the alternator on the right engine blew, and we had all sorts of alarms and alerts going off. "We came into the pit area and frantically re-routed the left alternator so that it would look after both engines as there wasn't enough time to replace the damaged one. "From the start of the race we got to the front of our class,
only for the remaining alternator to start going off, causing
more alerts, alarms and dropping our speed, particularly around
the corners." |
Red Bellies Racing endured further frustrations
at Wellington
Red Bellies Racing will be looking for more luck
in the second half of the series |
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Sanders and Craven persevered in the 100-mile race, finishing fifth in the Superboat Light class. "We were well off the pace, so just tried to do what we've done for the last couple of races, which was get to the end of the race and hope for some retirements," Sanders said. "Everyone else finished, so we ended up in fifth in our class, which is some more handy points, but not what we had hoped for. "I'm not quite sure whose black cat we ran over, but that's the way everything is going for us at the moment." The next round of the series will be held at Tauranga on March 24. It will mark the start of the second half of the 2007 season, with Sanders determined to fight on and turn around the team's fortunes. "We came to this series looking for a challenge, and we've definitely found one," Sanders said. "Part of the challenge is being based in Australia and only having a day or two between rounds to work on the boat, rather than the full two weeks. "That has played a part in the follow-on effects from the Taupo crash - each time we find and fix a problem, we have another one. "In these first few rounds, I've been impressed by the New Zealand Series and competition. "The series is very professional and the NZ boats are running at about the same top speed as we were to win in Australia, and are good through the corners. "With strong competition, we know that even when we have a good run, we'll need to be right on top of our game, but I'm confident we can turn it around and get some results in the remaining rounds." Red Bellies Offshore Racing is supported by Seabreeze Hotel, Barwil Unitor Ships Service, Mainlube, Always Stainless, Watersports Marine, Total Fencing Solutions, Steve Cotton Painting, Hosting Impact and Argo Engineering. When not racing offshore powerboats, Bruce Sanders heads the Sanders Group, based in New South Wales' Nelson Bay, which owns and manages several hotels and motels in the region, including the Seabreeze Hotel. In 2006, Seabreeze Hotel was awarded 'Hotel of the Year', by the
Australian Independent Liquor Group, in recognition of the hotel's
high quality management, facilities and services. |
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