A FRIGHTENING crash involving Superboat racers Eric Hoeksema and Andy Dahl, from Palmerston North was a sobering moment in Sunday's final round of the Parker Enzed Jetsprint Championships at Tauherenikau. The Superboats have huge capacity engines ? some producing 1300hp ? and while they are crowd favourites, when things go wrongthat can happen bigtime and frighteningly quickly. Hoeksema's craft slid across at least one island before flipping into the water. Hoeksema was taken to hospital, but released yesterday. Foul weather on Saturday and overcast conditions on raceday kept crowd numbers down, disappointing when a huge amount of effort went into preparing the purpose-built Oldfields Aquatrack, which was also used for the first round of the championship. At the end of the day, class winners were Peter Caughey/Karen Marshall, of Christchurch, in Superboats, Rex Briant (Gisborne) and Glen Mason (Auckland) in Group A, and Brian and Marie Kelly, from Tauranga, in the Lites. Event promoter Garry ("Choco") Smith, of Featherston, with Mark Shirtliff, from Lower Hutt, navigating, were the top-placed local crew, finishing fourth in Group A, a position Smith was happy with. Their wives, Catherine Smith at the wheel and Suzanne Shirtliff navigating, were 9th overall, confidence restored after a crash in the Gisborne round. Local club members Ray and Nicky Ferguson, from Lower Hutt, finished third in Group A. Former Lites champions Morris and Darryl Edwards had an unhappy day, fininshing sixth in their class.
