Fin Hansen, Yorke Peninsula Country Times
Austin McDonald has already built consistent form just a few months into his powerboating career.
The 26-year-old adrenaline junkie, who lives in Wallaroo, has joined the Australian Formula Powerboat Grand Prix circuit for 2023.
McDonald finished eighth in his first race meeting earlier this year and has since chalked up several promising results at races along the east coast of Australia.
Growing up in Gawler, McDonald took the traditional route to sprint cars by racing dirt karts as a junior across regional South Australia.
“I was SA2 and 3 for a while in dirt karts and won plenty of races … the best part was being able to race almost every weekend of the year,” McDonald said.
“I grew up going to the speedway as a kid so I’ve always been pretty keen on motorsports.” McDonald and his family shifted to Wallaroo for a sea change about three years ago and, at the same time, he started racing 410ci sprint cars.
“I won a couple of state series in formula 500s, before moving to the premier 410 cubic inch sprint car class,” he said.
Having experienced ample success on the dirt from a young age, McDonald turned his attention to the water.
“My dad (Andrew) raced powerboats in the ’80s and ’90s so I wanted to follow his lead,” he said.
“You need a high-level boat to race at all so I bought an F2 Molgaard hull race boat, which weighs about 450 kilograms, from Denmark last year.
“It’s fitted with a Mercury Optimax 200XS engine and is averaging about 175 kilometres an hour.” Having missed his grounding years of powerboating, McDonald said he’s spent lots of time learning the ins and outs of the sport.
“I think I’ve adapted pretty well and racing pretty competitively at a national level already,” he said.
“Basically, each course is 2.7kms with four or five left-hand turns and a right turn.
The race is timed at about eight minutes with one lap at the end to decide who wins.
“I’ve hit speeds of 180-190km/h — it’s like you’re floating on water, there’s nothing like it.
“One of the tests I had to pass to be able to race was the cell test, where they strap you to a cockpit upside down in a pool and you have to get out three times.” McDonald has been juggling his powerboating career whilst managing his own business, Premier Mobility and Equipment Repair Service, which repairs all types of mobility aids in regional SA.
“I spend about 15 hours a week working on my boat in the shed, meaning lots of late nights working on it after work,” he said.
“With the speeds we race at, you really have to run right through the boat carefully checking all the nuts and bolts before a race.
“We also have to rebalance it sometimes, depending on where we’re racing,” McDonald said joining the International Formula Powerboat Grand Prix circuit was his overarching dream.
“You need to be winning in Australia consistently to get to Europe,” he said.
“But at the moment I’m pretty focused on learning as much as I can and continuing to improve my speed.”
McDonald visited his major sponsor Can Do Marine (Copper Coast Marine Centre) whilst meeting some of his supporters at Wallaroo on Friday, May 12.
Can Do Marine owner Bruce McKenzie said he was very pleased to be sponsoring Austin McDonald Racing.
“I’ve always enjoyed working on high-power performance motors, so to be involved with a race boat like Austin’s really suits us,” McKenzie said.
“I’ve watched him in three or four race meetings in New South Wales this year.
“The cost of competing in powerboats is big so there’s opportunities for other local sponsors to get behind this local boy.
“All sponsorship money goes towards Austin’s accommodation and travel costs.”
To sponsor Austin, contact his team via Austin McDonald Racing on Facebook.
This article appeared in the Yorke Peninsula Country Times, 23 May 2023.
