After a weekend of drama, Mercury-powered 99 Psycho Clowns is sitting on top of the table in the Australian Water Ski Racing Championship, collecting the maximum 50 points for Round 1 on Bramble Bay, North of Brisbane.
Powered by a new Mercury QC4V twin turbo package, 99 Psycho Clowns started the weekend perfectly with a victory in the first qualifying round but then a steering column problem forced it out of the water.
After a quick trip back to the workshop to fix the steering column, the boat was back and in perfect shape for Race 1 but had to start in the second wave.
Regardless, 99 Psycho Clowns fought through the field to beat pole sitter True Blue by five seconds, with Superman back in third.
Race 2 saw 99 Psycho Clowns starting from second. After a great start thanks to the awesome torque the QC4V produces, and some great tactical racing from driver Daniel McMahon, skier Wayne Mawer (a two time world champion) and observer Ian Baker, the team was able to get past Superman to take a second chequered flag.
The dominating performance of 99 Psycho Clowns is even more impressive considering it was put in the water for the first time just a few days before the event.
The new boat started life as a 21S Force but the team at Seaquest Performance, the Queensland-based Mercury Racing Dealer, carefully modified the hull and installed a new Mercury QC4V twin turbo package.
“The combination of 99 Psycho Clowns and Seaquest Performance is really impressive, they’ve put a great boat on the water and there’s a lot of talent there to get it across the line,” said Guy Williamson, Mercury’s Director of Service and Quality.
“The Mercury QC4V package is just superb with awesome power and reliability which is exactly what you need to win these major titles.”
With two rounds to go – in Corio Bay, VIC and Newcastle, NSW – 99 Psycho Clowns has 50 points, ahead of Superman on 42 and Burnin with 38.