TAUHERENIKAU is guaranteed a round of the national jetsprint championship next summer, and could eventually host a round of the world series.
That's the word from Garry Smith of Featherston, a leading Wairarapa jetsprinter and the man behind the development of a permanent track at Tauherenikau Racecourse.
Speaking at the site, Smith
said the preparatory work, stage one, was complete and stage two, the actual excavation of the track, is almost finished.
The project has the enthusiastic support of Trust House Charitable Trust, which has already given $15,000 toward the project, and contractors Oldfields, who are doing the job. They say a couple of fine days will be enough to finish it.
The Wairarapa Jetsprint Club, unique in New Zealand in that it has its own clubrooms, the former Betting Bar, will seek a further grant from the trust early next year to complete the project.
The earthworks include raised areas to the north of the track, for corporate guests, and to the south for the general public. Because the boats travel at high speed and can skid a long way on grass, the viewing areas are well clear of the on-track action.
The next big job is to grass the land surrounding the track, and the islands within it. The track can then be filled, from a nearby irrigation canal and from the river.
Smith said two members of the national jetsprint body had visited the site and reckon even at this stage it's the best in New Zealand. All that remains is to prove that in competition.
Garry Smith has just returned from Australia, where New Zealanders cleaned up the world series (New Zealand, Australia and the United States).
Brothers Rex and Peter Briant, from Gisborne, took the Group A and Superboat compettions respectively, Rex Briant sharing drives in Smith's boat. There were 35 boats in Group A and 14 Superboats.
The win wasn't without drama, however. On the first weekend, the first Australian meeting under lights, Smith flipped the boat. They got it going again and then Briant flipped it. Despite all that, it went on to take the title. Smith finished 11th in the two Australian rounds, not having competed in New Zealand.
There's little respite for competitors. The North and South Island rounds are held in January, followed by the national series and the World Series beginning in April.
