Raymarine, TFR/Wozencraft And Mikalyzed Share The Super Stock-Class Podium—Again
The same three Super Stock teams that prevailed in last month’s season-opening Thunder On Cocoa Beach event—Raymarine, TFR/Wozencraft and Mikalyzed—claimed the podium in the same finishing order today at the Lake Guntersville Hydrofest event in Alabama. That isn’t simply unusual. It’s downright rare if not unheard of, at least in the Super Stock ranks.
With two checkered flags in as many races, the Raymarine Super Stock team of Cole Leibel and Gary Ballough is off to a strong start this season.
“I’ve never seen it happen before,” said Ryan Beckley, a veteran Super Stock racer who represents the owners group for the class and is in Guntersville this weekend.
But is it just a wild coincidence? With only two races down this season, the sample-size is certainly too small to call Raymarine, TFR/Wozencraft and Mikalyzed “dominant” teams. But it’s worth noting that today’s first- and second-place finishers, Raymarine and TFR/Wozencraft, were top dogs in yesterday’s 10-lap heat races on the 4.5-mile course.
Equally unusual? As in Cocoa Beach, a Doug Wright catamaran was not among today’s podium finishers. The Raymarine, TFR/Wozencraft and Mikalyzed teams all run raceboats built in Dubai. Piloted by owner/driver Pete Riveiro and throttleman Ricky Maldonado, the third-place Mikalyzed team runs a Fazza 31-footer. The first-place Raymarine team of owner/driver Cole Leibel and throttleman Gary Ballough runs a 32-foot Victory, and the runner-up TFR/Wozencraft team fields a 31-foot Victory cats.
“There are a lot fast boats in this class,” said Tschida, who is enjoying his rookie season alongside veteran throttleman Julian Maldonado, who co-owns Manatee Marine Unlimited in Palmetto, Fla., with Sara Langheim. “Everybody is capable of winning.”
A new cockpit pairing this season, Julian Maldonado and Jeremy Tschida are already in sync in the cockpit of their 32-footer.
Originally slated to start at 3 p.m., today’s 10-lap main event for the entire 13-boat fleet was pushed forward based on blustery conditions.
“The wind was blowing 11 to 18 mph and Grand Prix boats and Hydros won’t run in that kind of wind,” Beckley explained. “They moved us to 11 a.m. No one was ready for that, but our teams got ready fast.”
As it turned out, only the Super Stock teams ran today. All other were races canceled because of the winds.
“Unlike yesterday, all 13 boats were on the course at the same time going into a strong headwind, which is a recipe for trouble that had me nervous,” Beckley said. “Team Bermuda/GL Construction climbed a couple of rooster-tails and blew over on the first lap, but David Selley and Steven Bridges were fine. On the next restart, CELSIUS broke. A couple of laps later, Digging Deep rolled in a corner, but the guys were OK.
“The third restart had TFR/Wozencraft leading, as they had for most of the race, but Raymarine ran them down and took the checkered flag,” he added.
Throttleman Ricky Maldonado of the Mikalyzed team, which like TFR/Wozencraft outfit operates out of the Manatee Marine Unlimited shop, was less than thrilled with his competitors’ overall driving behavior/etiquette following the restarts.
“Sadly, all the restarts created chaos and desperation from others, and that took us out of where we had worked so hard to be,” he explained. “But overall, we are extremely happy with our performance today and it will set the pace for what our season will be. If ‘dirty’ is the way it has to be, good, we’ll turn the season into misery for them.
“This event was seriously cool and the track was sick—fast, technical and just plain cool,” he added. “We had fun and put both our (Manatee Marine Unlimited setup and maintained) boats on podium, which is really what matters. On to the next one.”
Though Tschida has just three offshore races to his credit including yesterday’s heat-race, where he and Maldonado’s oldest son,Julian, finished first in their group, he is a longtime high-performance powerboat owner extensive experience behind the wheel and on the throttles. He and Maldonado adjust quickly to one another, he said, and are continuing to improve their cockpit teamwork.
The Mikalyzed team of Pete Riveiro and Ricky Maldonado has notched a pair of podium finishes in the first two races of the season.
“We’re getting better and better every time we go,” he said. “Our communication coming into the corners is improving and it needed to. We are making headway. We’ve been able to do a lot of testing.
“We even tested after yesterday’s storm to see if we could fine a few more miles per hour,” he added. “Manatee Marine is kicking ass for this team, and we love Wozencraft’s support.”
The next race of the season, XINSURANCE Offshore is set for June 20-22. The Lake of the Ozarks contest in Central Missouri will be the first race to run under the sanction of the new World Powerboat Racing Association sanctioning body.
“Most of the Super Stock teams, including a couple with repairs to make between now and then, are planning to be there,” Beckley said.
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