Briant sets hot pace in NZ champs

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

GISBORNE jetsprinter Blake Briant got his New Zealand championship campaign off to a perfect start in at the Meremere Sprint Bowl on Saturday.

Briant and navigator Kate Hoogerbrug dominated round 1 of the six-round series to win and collect maximum points.

The pair set the pace from the first qualifying round. Their top 8 run of 45.52 seconds was the fastest of the day — nine-tenths of a second faster than arch-rivals Sam Newdick (Hamilton) and Glenn Mason (Gisborne) could post.

Briant clocked 45.67 in the top-three final to easily beat Ric Burke and Alf Kil (48.93) with Warren Farr and Ben Thomas third after a DNF. Round 2 is at Wanganui on December 27.