Jetsprints: Thrills and spills at Whanganui’s Shelter View track

Australians Chris Edmonds and Daryl Hutton (Nutsy) shared the drive of Edmonds' Broken Arrow superboat, winning the MouthFRESH Superboats class at Whanganui's Shelter View track. Photo / Jeremy Ward, www.shot360.co.nz

After months of average weather, Whanganui turned on the sunshine when it mattered most, allowing the Shelter View track to dry out in time to host the PSP New Zealand Jetsprint Championship’s third round.

A beautiful warm day on Tuesday, December 27, greeted the spectators who began arriving right from Qual 1. The crowd stayed until the end of the day and enjoyed watching the fast, flowing rotation that wasn’t kind to all teams and spat out a few boats.

MouthFRESH Superboats

Australian team Daryl Hutton (Nutsy) and Mick Parry didn’t take much time to get up to speed in the Broken Arrow super boat that they were double driving with Chris Edmonds and his nephew Toby Edmonds, and they were full throttle from the get-go. Their experience racing in the Australian V8 Superboats Championship paid off and they collected the number one spot in the fiercely-contested, super-high horsepower class.

Hutton was involved in digging out the Whanganui track in 2004, so to take the win there was satisfying. Racing on a day licence means Hutton’s top result will not affect the championship points for the Kiwi racers.

Determined to make up some points after a big crash at Featherston’s second round in his Bar’s Bugs Superboat, Blake Briant and Cassandra Norman battled hard all day to claim the runner-up spot and the national series’ points.

A third-place spot on the podium was a well-received present for Reuben Hoeksema on his 30th birthday. Making his success even more impressive was the fact that Hoeksema’s usual navigator Jacob Wood came down with Covid, so Jen Nairn jumped in the boat to make her navigating debut.

Richard Murray and Steve Edmonds were popular fourth-place finishers in the crowd-favourite Meaner Machine superboat.

Chris Edmonds, who purchased the Broken Arrow super boat to race in New Zealand, started out strongly and was third fastest in Qual 5 but then put himself out in the Top 9 with a rotational error. The two Australian teams attracted a huge contingent of fellow Aussie racers, who came along to watch their compatriots. It seems they liked what they saw and there is talk that there will be more of them racing in the New Zealand series next season.

Their local track wasn’t kind to Whanganui couple Rob and Ange Coley, and their MouthFRESH Superboat developed issues in the Top 6. They were forced to drive the rotation slowly, as they had no boost.

Reigning Superboat champions, PSP team Sam Newdick and Shama Putaranui had a fuel injector break on the ramp before the Top 6 outing and weren’t able to get it fixed in time to start the run.

Sprintec Boats Group A

Extending their winning streak to three rounds, Hamilton’s Ollie Silverton and navigator Jess Sit proved themselves unbeatable again in their PSP boat.

Silverton said he was “super stoked with the result and our third consecutive win”.

“The boat was on song all day with some pretty consistent times and only a 0.3 second spread from our second qualifier through to the Top 3,” Silverton said.

“We got onto pace early in the day which set the day up well. Massive thanks to our team for taking time away from their friends and family during the holiday season. The results are a credit to their hard work.”

As predicted, Whanganui’s Ross Travers and navigator Amanda Kittow got a good boost from their home crowd to finish runners-up in their Radioactive boat.

North Canterbury couple Si and Sarah Gibbon had to settle for third after giving it their all in the final run and coming out at the hairpin which had been catching people out all day.

New Plymouth’s Matt Hareb drove beautifully all day to finish fourth.

MTW Group B

Nine Lives Racing’s Sam Gray, with navigator Mike Allen, upped their win tally to two at Shelter View, adding to their victory at Featherston earlier this month.

LJ Hooker Racing driver Bryce Baron had claimed the first scalp in Hastings but at Shelter View the treacherous hairpin caused Baron and his wife Kylie to crash out in the Top 9, ending their day.

In a spectacular crash in the MTW Class B, LJ Hooker Racing's Bryce Baron exits the Shelter View track upside down. Photo / Jeremy Ward, www.shot360.co.nz

That left Tapanui’s Karl Brenssell and Hamish Murray to pick up another podium finish and snare second in their On the Hoof boat.

Upper Hutt driver Craig Shaw and Paul Collier claimed the final step and finished third.

Rookie Richard Currie was sitting in second going into the Top 9 but went the wrong way in the Top 6 to bow out.

MTW LS Class

In the MTW LS Class, it was the Link ECU team of John Verry and Leila Burder, who notched up their third victory from three rounds. The pair have been unbeatable all season in this category, which has been introduced to allow LS1, LS2, L98, L76 and LS3 engines to be tuned to 580hp and raced in a lightweight exciting package.

After having trouble with the rotation and an off during the day, LS Express team Matt Nairn and Josh Gowan pulled it together when it counted, coming in second.

Sixteen-year-old Dylan Edhouse, with his mum Debbie navigating, drove incredibly well all day. They are getting increasingly closer to class leader Verry’s times at every event.

Napier's John Verry and navigator Leila Burder notched up their third consecutive victory at Whanganui. Photo / Jeremy Ward, www.shot360.co.nz

New Zealand Jetsprint Association president Julia Murray, who hosted the Whanganui round at the family farm she shares with husband and superboat driver Richard, said although she hadn’t yet tallied up the final crowd numbers, the full banks suggested “it was a good crowd”.

“After an extremely stressful build-up to the event, with rain every day for weeks, it was touch and go as to whether we were even going to be able to run. The weather cleared only four days prior to the event, finally allowing the pit area and car parking enough time to dry out,” Murray said.

“Fortunately the weather on the day couldn’t have been better, so we were pleased we took the risk and went ahead. We have an awesome petrolhead town here in Whanganui that is always supportive of the jetsprints and we really appreciate that. It’s what keeps the track here and running. A big thanks also goes to our commentators, Caveman and Leighton, who do an awesome job of entertaining the crowds on race day.

“To top off the event, the competition produced possibly the most exciting racing we have had for several years, with the podium having yet another shuffle. It’s exciting when you go to a jetsprint race unsure of who is going to be on the podium at the end of the day. The points have changed yet again and there aren’t too many gaps forming. So, as we head into Round 4 in Meremere in February, in some of the classes, it’s anyone’s championship still to win. It makes for thrilling racing for the spectators.”