Mildura Hosts Battery World Drivers’ Championship Final

Since its inception in September 2023, the Battery World National Drivers’ Championship has developed into one of the most widely followed boat racing competitions in the country. Developed for Forced Induction Unlimited Displacement inboard boats; once affectionately known as ‘Blown Displacements’ for their predominantly supercharged powerplants, the category has taken on a life of its own in recent years with a number of varying powerplants now involved including a range of turbo-charged V8s and 6-cylinder Ford and Toyotas; it has really grabbed the attention of the fans, the new four-round Series leading the charge.

In 2023 the event was contested as a single race on the Hawkesbury River at Windsor in Sydney. That grew to four rounds in 2024, with events at Melton (Victoria), Yarrawonga (Victoria), Adelaide (South Australia) and again at Windsor, the Drivers’ Championship won by 2023 Champion Tate Ramsey in the final race of the season by just four points over rival Craig Stauner; and that was after 42-races (Heats, Finals and Qualifiers) across the season!

For 2025 the Series was joined by naming rights partner Battery World for the four round campaign, which suffered an early setback with the postponement of the opening round at Melton due to a lack of rainfall, the south of the country suffering through another long drought as the rest of the country experiences record rainfall.. That made Yarrawonga the season-opener in April, followed by a debut event at Laidley in Queensland, a return to Windsor in September, before Mildura became the host of the season final in conjunction with the Melbourne Runabout and Speedboat Club.

Championship Battle Goes Down to the Wire

Across the season there has again been strong competition, 26-boats in total contesting a round of the 2025 season, but despite the competition and some stunning drives, two-time Champion Tate Ramsey continues to weather every assault and this season, remains undefeated in an A-Main final coming into Mildura, but whilst the strong favourite to cap off the season with an unbeaten record, there will be no shortage of people looking to upstage him this weekend.

The Ramsey Rivalry

Leading the charge will be arguably Ramsey’s greatest rival across his time in the Unlimited category; ‘Unleashed’s’ Brett Sheppard. The pair traded some of the biggest titles in the country across 2023 and went head-to-head in the very first Drivers’ Championship event at Windsor where controversy played into the outcome.

For Sheppard, retirement from the sport was on the cards, but whilst suffering some technical setbacks during the 2024 season – which saw him sidelined more than once – he has been quietly working away at a return for much of the 2025 season; Mildura this weekend will see him present a real threat to Tate Ramsey’s ongoing dominance, but he won’t be alone..

Patterson’s Meteoric Rise

From his NDC debut in Melton in February 2024, third-generation racer Connor Patterson has put the established stars on notice that an experienced younger driver with 6-litre credentials can take the fight to the established ‘BAD’ [Blown Alcohol Displacement] stars even with a dramatic shortfall in horsepower. Patterson was in fact leading the Championship points at the mid-point of the ’24 season after winning his very first event last year at Melton before going on to dominate the second round at Yarrawonga ahead of a technical issue whilst leading the A-Main final. It was a meteoric debut; but then the wheels fell off, almost literally, a string of small parts failures keeping them from a start in Adelaide, before their Yarrawonga issue (a broken fuel+oil pump drive bolt) re-emerged at Windsor.

Patterson has again been incredible this season, topping the Hot Laps session at Yarrawonga despite an even longer course than 2024. Sadly, despite again catching his rivals wanting, fate intervened, this time the outer layer of the hull started to peel back, before fuel pressure issues saw him crawl around the A-Main final to the finish; his Hot Laps time and victory in the opening heat keeping him within striking distance of Ramsey heading to round two.

The mighty little yellow boat was again strong at Laidley but forced to settle for second in the A-Main despite starting from pole one, his Hot Laps effort again being key, having carded second to Mark Gauci’s ‘Immortal’ ahead of victory in both his heat races, Tate Ramsey by contrast setting just the fifth fastest time in his qualifying session.

Windsor was again expected to deliver another tight battle between Tate Ramsey and Patterson, but in the end it was the Gold Coast’s Brent Lewis who proved the biggest challenge, Ramsey only just breaking clear of the Queenslander to take his third win of the season, Patterson forced to battle Blake Ramsey for third leaving him 16 points back from the Championship lead heading into Mildura where there are still 100-race points up for grabs. By contrast, Craig Stauner held a 25-point advantage over Tate Ramsey heading into the 2024 season final, so nothing is guaranteed..

The Supporting Cast

With Brett Sheppard and a resurgent – and motivated – Ryan Constable (ODIN) back in the field, there will be no shortage of fireworks, likewise Blake Ramsey who across the 2025 Battery World season has proven more than an equal to his rivals, sitting just 36-points back from the Series lead, but don’t rule out a challenge from some of the smaller boats, the tighter river courses considered an advantage for the shorter, lighter weight boats. Keep a close eye on Brent Lewis, Laidley sensation Mikey Johnson and Brett Niddrie, as a minimum.

Contenders to Watch

Brett Ramsay – Ravage

Brett Ramsay’s return to the sport in his turbo-Toyota 2JZ at Yarrawonga’s opening round saw an impressive debut, the mighty family-built ‘Ravage’ undergoing a development run knowing they’d miss Laidley’s Queensland round, but despite taking a conservative approach, they were classified fifth for the weekend heading into the finals where a setback kept them from completing the weekend. Some more development with the lightweight package saw Ramsay back at Windsor where he fought his way into two second-placed heat finishes before a third placed finish in the B-Main final despite starting inside pole, the Victorian claiming seventh for the weekend.

Royce McIntyre – MAYHEM

Royce McIntyre was another to impress on his debut at Laidley in the Lewis-built ‘Image’ hull, the young Sydney-sider claiming an eighth placed finish on debut despite carrying significantly less horsepower than his rivals, the Hawkesbury local backing up with 12th at home, but all smiles after moving into the Championship top ten, first year in.

Scott Cleaver – Supernova

For Scott Cleaver, his season has been a fast-tracked learning curve in the ex-Rob Psaila 21-foot ‘Evercraft’, the former ski-racer facing a baptism of fire, but clearly not afraid to mix it with the best drivers in the country, has shown great improvement across the season, his Hot Laps sessions though often forcing him to have to work through the field in the Heat races, the pressure of millimetre-perfect one-lap qualifiers setting the experienced teams apart from the rookies. That said, his consistency and constant improvement across the season places him fourth in Championship points heading into the decider, with a comfortable buffer over Brent Lewis.

More Stars in the Mix

Throw in the returning Dennis Psaila who has been working on a new engine package for ‘Always Pumping’, his 2024 sparring-partner Dave Satterley in ‘TITAN’ and West Australian Les Smith who made a cameo at Adelaide in 2024 by providing his boat ‘MADDOG’ to Heath Hamilton to continue his Championship battle, and you have a great field of drivers all looking for success on the Drivers’ Championship’s maiden visit to Mildura.

Championship Standings

Supporting Championships

Kavanagh Auto Parts 6-litre NDC

Aside from the excitement around the Battery World National Drivers’ Championship [NDC] final, there is much anticipation for the first ever Kavanagh Auto Parts 6-litre NDC with two rounds scheduled across the event; Saturday hosting the Jack Kavanagh Memorial, whilst Sunday plays host to the Clyde Lewis Trophy, two iconic awards that will also set the points for the 6-litre NDC.

Typical of the attraction of these two iconic trophies, the stars have come out to play with drivers the calibre of Craig Lewis (Clyde Lewis’ son and brother to Battery World NDC front-runner Brent Lewis), Ryan McIntosh and Steve Rarity, three long-standing pace-setters in the 6-litre Displacement category who will battle the next generation of stars in Cory Marland (son of Griffith Cup Champion Troy Marland), Brenton Walsh and Baxter Ramsey, son of reigning Battery World NDC Champion Tate Ramsey.

There have been some late withdrawals from the event, the likes of Alex Shepherdley and Stephen Rumble working against the clock in preparation for the event, and whilst the stunning ‘Transonic’ of the Shepherdley family will miss the round (as will South Australian 6-litre stalwart Mark Ebenreuter), Rumble will contest the debut X100 event at Mildura, leaving his 6-litre launch for the 2026 season.

There will be no shortage of challengers across the weekend with Skeet Lawson, Troy Tschirpig and Dave Freeman also adding their names to the inaugural field, and if there’s one thing we’ve learnt from the Drivers’ Championship across the last two seasons, it’s that you can never bet on a sure thing, especially in a category as tight as this, the points too a consideration as consistency remains key, whilst the points structure is designed to keep everyone in the race.

Bottom line is, this will be well worth watching and likely very difficult to predict!

X100 National Drivers’ Championship presented by Tattooz R us

Aside from the Kavanagh Auto Parts 6-litre NDC, the Series will also debut the new X100 category, supported at the inaugural event by bracket-class regular Mark Schultz and ‘Tattooz R us’. Campaigned for the inboard-engine bracket class boats (85mph/95mph/105mph), this weekend the speed bracket is set at 95-miles-per-hour and like the 6-litres, will run separate rounds on Saturday and Sunday with the Series Champion crowned on Sunday night.

The interest in the category and the depth of competition for Mildura has been outstanding, some drivers, like Melbourne Runabout and Speedboat Club stalwart Chris Dynon (Excalibur) have come out of retirement to compete in the event, an event which will feature a number of high profile drivers.

Names like Mick McCardle (Hombre), Nathan Bartczak (One More), Mike Godsell (Moonshine Racing), Schultz (The Artist), Nick Borg (Pro Formance) and Stephen Rumble (Cut Cat Racing) are expected to fight for outright victory, but they won’t have it all their own way, Scott Knudsen (Sinister IV), Lewis Mills (Hypo), Justin McLeish (Tantrum), Jayke Wilson (Richochet), Phil Cmrlec (Jimbo) and Matt Smith (Bout Time) all expected to make an impression.

Land Transport Junior National Drivers’ Championship

The JNR NDC project was unveiled last time out at Windsor with an impressive field of competitors, matched to the driver this weekend, with 22 entries at Mildura. Campaigned for the Formula Future categories catering for 8-16 year olds in three distinct classes capped by engine performance, the Land Transport JNR NDC presented by Hygrade Plumbing will see two rounds contested across the weekend. Each team will compete in a time trial, then two Heat races which run on a handicap system.

Some of the best young juniors in the country have come out in support of the new concept, with some even stepping back into the category despite graduating to faster equipment, such has been the lure of the NDC.

Expect some spirited racing across both days (Saturday/Sunday), where the Juniors will be on the water from 7:30am, and keep a close eye on some of the front-runners in the J3 category (12-16 year olds), they will likely be the drivers to watch in the senior categories in the very near future!

Event Schedule

Location: Mildura Ski Club, River Boulevard along the mighty Murray River (Victoria/New South Wales border)

2025 Championship Calendar

TV Coverage

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