FULL SPEED: Whanganui's Richard Murray rounds an island at Shelterview early in the evening on Saturday. Murray would finish fifth after a big crash later in the night. PHOTO/BEVAN CONLEY
IF THERE is one thing the PSP NZ Jet Sprint Championship is known for, then it's drama under the lights at the Shelterview track in Upokongaro.
The chase for the Suzuki Superboats national title, which was heading for a two-boat shootout, has flip-flopped after engine faults ended the night early for the world champions in Hamilton's Glen Head and Canterbury's Peter Caughey during the very first eliminator race on Saturday.
Suddenly, Whanganui's chasing contingent on the points table in expat Leighton Minnell, Richard Murray and Rob Coley had the door wide open to challenge Head and Caughey's advantage.
Minnell and Coley would take that opportunity by finishing second and third respectively on the night, and would have climbed higher if not for the stunning return of Foxton's Richard Burt, who turned the clock back to 2009-10 and set down blistering speeds the others couldn't match.
Murray's season of scares continued as he and navigator Jo Rathbone went flying out of the course and into the catch fence at the entry ramp end of the track during the Top 5 eliminator, however Meaner Machine remained upright and the pair emerged shaken but unhurt.
It was not the biggest crash of the night as Group B driver Greg Reardon and navigator Dawn Erb also took flight and ended upside down in the same spot, leaving Erb with some painful bruising to the shoulder.
With course alterations since December when Coley had his spectacular airborne crash through the spin-out pool, the new layout puts the finishing line in front of the commentary box and made for some very exciting racing, particularly as it created a significant hairpin just after midway through the rotations which saw many a driver take careful lines or even leave the water to make it through.
While most of the superboat drivers were switched on, less experienced racers in the lower Group A-B divisions often made some fatal wrong turns and got lost on the course.
No one expected any problems for 2016's world series winner Head, but with a Superboat field of 10 boats all automatically qualified for the first eliminator, the Hamilton driver took in a wall of water at the top of the course and suddenly had his engine smoking, ending his night on the grass verge.
If that was a surprise, then multiple champion Caughey's fate was shocking, as his boat got off the trailer into the water and would not start.
Taken back on board and now under the official's timer to get up to scratch, Caughey tried again but the Enzed craft just drifted into the side wall.
Caughey later said his forward control switch, worth $12-14, had stopped working, meaning he could back the boat into the water, but the reverse bucket would not come down for them to go forward - a first in 14 years of competing.
Tensions immediately rose for Minnell, Murray and Coley, the latter having looked strong in qualifying during daylight by breaking into the 40sec barrier.
But under lights it was Burt who was shining - powering out of the starting straight of the new course rotation and putting down times about two seconds quicker than the others.
After Murray's smash, it was Minnell and Coley who went on to the Top 3 eliminator with Burt, each making constantly quicker efforts in the 42sec zone.
In the final, Coley in typical aggressive fashion pushed his luck on every corner, but he and navigator wife Ange could only manage a 43.49s time.
Minnell and navigator wife Kellie were in classic form - driving a perfect and smooth line, leaping through the hairpin, and beating Burt's Top 5 effort with a 41.343s drive.
But even with that gauntlet thrown down, Burt with Claire Roberts pointing the way delivered, saving their best result for last with a stunning 41.211s lap to win the round by just 0.132s.
The Foxton driver returned to racing in January and so has not entered the full national series, but Minnell was not surprised by his comeback.
"Richard's been coming all year, he's a former champion.
"We've both been building our boats - I've been building this old one and he's been building a new one."
No question it had taken a lot of courage for both men to drive at those speeds in the dark.
"It was getting a bit scary, it was tighter than a pair of my underpants," Minnell said.
Having caught right up to the points leaders, Minnell gave his thumbs-up to the new track layout and is delighted the series finale in Featherston will now be a dogfight between 4-5 drivers, rather than just the Head vs Caughey show.
"[Shelterview] evens out a lot of teams. It brings in a 'money corner', and there's also one at the next place .
"We could be either tied with Peter Caughey and two points behind Glen Head.
"I've got my confidence back."
Coley was also happy to take his opportunity to get back into the title picture, although as always he would rather have success by being the fastest instead of the other competitors having problems.
"It could put us into second even. She's going to be all on, that's for sure."
Nonetheless, Coley was disappointed that Poison Ivy could not harness all of its power during the eliminator runs, telling his crew to gamble and change the blades for the Top 3 final, which actually saw him finish a second slower.
"I took a big risk there, I couldn't get out of it what I wanted.
"I just said, 'I'll get that with my blade change or finish third'. There was not that punch.
"It just spun it to pieces."
The final round of the series will be at Featherston on April 24.