It was mud, water and airborne jet boats instead of burning rubber at the Meremere sprint car track on Saturday.
The infield of the racetrack was transformed into a watery racecourse for the North Island Jet Sprint Championships - which provided plenty of thrills and spills for the 4000-strong crowd.
Thousands of cubic metres of earth was moved with excavators to make a tight, challenging course with channels 5m wide and about 1m deep.
One of those to get airborne was Auckland driver Graeme Mincham, who won the Lites class despite nearly losing it during an earlier qualifying run.
Saturday's racing was the first time in six years that a major jet sprint event was held in the Auckland region. Organisers were thrilled with the turnout and said it could be the start of a regular event.
The International Group A class was won by Rex Briant of Gisborne, unbeaten in the series after four rounds. Second was former champion Hamish Pryde of Wairoa. The Superboat class was won by Peter Caughey of Christchurch, who is also unbeaten. He beat Chris Barns of Rotorua in the final.
The racing was sponsored by Parker NZ.
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