Australia’s top ski racing teams named ahead of the Southern 80

Southern 80 organisers have confirmed the top 40 ski racing teams from across Australia will compete at the event’s return next month. Here are the teams and their competitors ranked.

The top 40 water ski racing teams in Australia have been announced ahead of this year’s Southern 80.

The event will run for three days between May 13 and 15 with 387 teams set to take to the water on the NSW-Victoria border between Torrumbarry Weir and Echuca.

Racing will start on Saturday morning with social classes before the top 40 battle it out in the President’s Dash and Bakers Blitz in the afternoon to decide the starting positions for Sunday’s main event.

Sydney-based team Argo which includes two father-son duos — Brett and Zak Armstrong with Richard and Jack Manning — will have the privilege of being the first starter in Saturday’s qualification period.

Defending champion Superman, driven by team owner Darren McGuire from Dubbo, will have the opportunity to see all their fellow competitors take to the water before closing out Saturday’s racing.

Here are how the teams rank ahead of the weekend.

Superman is the defending Southern 80 champion. Photo: Nicholas Rowlands.

1. Superman

Driver (D): Darren Maguire Observer (O): Steven Robertson Skiers (S): Daniel Graziano, Daniel Cotton.

2. Sapphire F1

D: Tim Pickford O: Brian Griffin S: Lachlan Nix, Aiden Cuff.

3. Pigs Arsenal

D: Chris Stevens O: Doug Perry S: Jack Stevens, Jake Ellery.

4. Temper 2

D: Rhett Davis O: Ben Hackett S: Jack Coaldrake, Raymond Ball.

5. Brimstone F1

D: Jon Horbury O: Timothy Horbury S: Bradley Williams, Thomas Perry.

6. Hellbent

D: Alex Handley O: Jack Battye S: Cameron Nix, Jason Cartledge.

7. The Mistress

D: Zachary Welch O: Leo Welch S: Bradley Osmotherly, Jamie Oliver.

8. Supernova

D: Scott Cleaver O: Brad Robertson S: Ben Clark, Cooper Robertson.

9. Tempered

D: Andrew Davis O: David McMillan S: Brock McMillan, Brendan Tidswell.

10. Doindough

D:Paul Collard O:Mark Spencer S:Jess Spencer, Connor Ballingall.

11. Mirror Image

D: Daniel Galea O: Luke Nixon S: David Follett, Nicholas Patterson.

12. Masterforce

D: Geoff Thomson O: Craig Nicholls S: Ryan Thomson, Curtis Horbury.

13. Merc Force F1

D: Colin Hockly O: James Marth S: Korey Gally, Will Hockley.

14. Hooligan

D: John Grabiec O: Jeff Marshall S: Blaze Branson, Jack Heather.

15. Primevil

D: Ian Payne O: Cameron Monaghan S: Liam Forde, Brayden Harris.

The Southern 80 will return in May. Picture: Yuri Kouzmin

16. Agitator

D: Chris Affoo O: Steve Hurrey S: Ross J Harris, Riley Arnold.

17. I-Robot

D:Trinton Smith O:Brendon Dennis S: Jarryd Tannenberg, Clark Stegmeyer.

18. Ghostrider

D: Rick Janssen O: Ryan Hatherell S: Mitchell Gogoll, Rhys Duggan.

19. Elm St

D: Wesley Davison O: Cameron Nicholls S: Kody Davison, Will Groves.

20. ORSM

D: Jason Dingli O: Danny Cropper S: Blake Dingli, Bailey Cropper.

21. Hells Arsenal

D: Mark Boyer O: Brandan McGlynn S: Maddison Boyer, Dylan Cuff.

22. Hollowpoint

D: Steven Czapp O: Jason Loftus S: Brendon Fogarty, Damien Payne.

23. Agrovation

D: Chris Doonan O: Stuart Horne S: Kane Horne, Bryce Horne.

24. Extreme Meltdown

D: Anthony Savona O: Sam Horne S: Lucy Savona, Ashlee Cuff.

25. Public Enemies

D: Glenn Rowlands O: Arran Samuels S: Max Rowlands, Mason Vaughan.

26. Fifty Four

D: Ian Gordon O: Terri Rigg S: Dylan France, Craig Gordon.

27. Korrupt

D: Glenn Scanlon O: Chris Neville S: Nicholas Chase, Tyson Heathcote.

28. Illusion Down Under

D: Stuart Clough O: Daryl Farley S: Josh Horne, Riley Fogarty.

29. Sapphire Racing

D: Russell Lewis O: Mark Holmes S:Korey Galley, Josh Moxon.

30. No Bull F2

D: Ian Follington O: Darren Lindsell S: Connor Lindsell, Shantelle King.

31. Filthy

D: Jarred Jarvis O: Erron Jameson S: Riley Jarvis, Nellie McMillan.

32. Noizworks

D: Peter Gisinger O: Peter Thompson S: Mark Stephenson, Brayden Jameson.

33. Liquid Force F2

D: Andrew Sproull O: Bradley Audsley S: Brad Knights, Joshua Tyrrell.

34. Sportspage

D: Dean Johns O: Anthony O Reilly S: Dylan Stevenson, Cameron Horne.

35. Helta Skelta

D: Michael Askew O: Richard Souwer S: Joel Massey, Brandon Togni

36. Synthetic

D: Stuart Evans O: Wayne Duggan S: Joshua Reid, Greg Norton.

37. Stalker

D: Peter Hilet O: Simon Zealley S: Matthew Hilet, Calum Lindberg.

38. Gone Mental

D: Shane Dower O: James King S: Troy Evans, Shannon Fornari.

39. Corruption

D: Adam Barclay O: Shane Bru S: Clinton Brown, Zac Francis.

40. Argo

D: Richard Manning O: Brett Armstrong S: Jack Manning, Zak Armstrong.