Last weekend, Team Stinga Racing made the 700km trip up the pacific highway for the Annual October long weekend Grafton Bridge to Bridge. For the first time, World champion boat "Stinga" F1 was to be campaigned for a river classic. After some minor modifications to change the grand prix "worlds" boat into a river beater, Greg and the crew were set to see what the big girl was capable of. On arrival in Grafton "Stinga" F1 was met with enthusiasm by Daniel, Grant and our fans as final preparations took place.

Saturday morning would see the running of the Crown Jewel Shootout which TSR hold the record for with "Stinga" Legend. TSR would line up against Blazen and Hellbent in a 3 way 10km drag race. As the crowd at the finish line heard the raw of all three twin turbo engines behind Susan Island, anticipation was building, especially in the TSR camp. First boat into view was "Stinga" F1 by a rope length to Blazen with Hellbent close behind as they all headed for the one and only turn before heading back into the finish straight. 

Blazen had the outside line and therefore held more speed through the turn and closed on the TSR crew, who then responded and dug deep to hold off the Queensland crew to claim the shootout win. Not only did "Stinga" F1 take the win but eclipsed the previous record held by the legend Connelly by 4 seconds. A huge achievement for a boat that was relatively untested in such a race format. Big congratulations to Greg, Kevin, Daniel, Grant and the crew. Great job!!

Unfortunately, this was to be the be all and end all for the weekend. After hours of deliberation on Sunday morning regarding safety, Sunday's main race - The East Coast Commercials Grafton Bridge to Bridge - was deemed to be unsafe for racing due to the inclement weather and poor visibility especially at the northern end of the river. Thanks to everyone who put in countless hours of work setting the course and organizing the event, don't worry, TSR will be back at Grafton next year rain, hail or shine!