Ratai was at his Westwood St home with friends about 5.20am on the day of the crash when he received a phone call and a text from a friend in Mt Maunganui saying he needed an urgent ride.
Ratai and three others got into his Honda intending to drive the 10km at speed to get the friend.
Initially Ratai drove at the 50km/h speed limit along Westwood Rd and Princess Rd, but once he turned into Margaret Rd he accelerated heavily.
Once clear of Otumoetai roundabout, Ratai sped up again and pulled on to the wrong side of the road to overtake another vehicle. As he did he lost control and slid sideways down the centre line of Ngatai Rd, rotating 180 degrees before sliding off the road and into a power pole.
The front passenger door struck the powerpole, which snapped off at the base and fell on to the car.
Ratai and his two backseat passengers were uninjured and managed to get out of the car, but his badly injured front-seat passenger had to be cut free.
At the time of the crash, Ratai had only travelled 3km of his intended journey.
A police crash analyst calculated Ratai was travelling at a minimum of 114 km/h when he lost control.
Ratai told police he was driving fast because he thought his friend was in trouble.
He told police he had been driving normally until he got to Margaret Rd, then "boosted it" and slowed a bit, then "boosted it" again looking out for police as he drove along and the crash occurred after he pulled out to overtake a car in front of him doing the speed limit.
