Sprints full of surprises

BACK IN BUSINESS: Richard Murray was second in the Superboats at the fourth round of the PSP NZ Jet Sprint Championships on Sunday.

THE Whanganui jetsprinters were back where they belong with four podium finishes across the Superboat and Group B classes at the fourth round of the nationals at Crownthorpe in Hastings on Sunday.
In the Group B class, Ross Travers and navigator son Shane made it back-to-back victories following on from Waitara, as they were over two seconds quicker on the stopwatch than Te Awamutu's Patrick Haden, while fellow Whanganui team Hayden Wilson and Chris Hausman were "stoked" to get up to third.
After a previous run of bad luck in the Superboats, Richard Murray with Jo Rathbone and Rob Coley racing with his wife Ange got through their hiccups on the day to finish second and third respectively behind multiple time Canterbury champion Peter Caughey.
It will give the local drivers a lot of confidence coming back to their home track at Shelterview to compete in the night round on April 9.
Murray's partner Julia Murray said after timing equipment malfunctions, they had to switch to stopwatches for a Top 5 eliminator, which was raced as the final instead of the Top 3.
The Murray crew overcame one incident during the day when an electrical fault saw Richard park the boat on an island by the fence, but they recovered and got progressively faster through the eliminators.
Coley and Hastings driver Graeme Hill went through to a redone Top 5 with Caughey, Murray, and Hamilton's series leader Glen Head, after their previous finishes weren't recorded.
Caughey was "on fire" and put down the quickest finish of the day in 44.2s, while Murray continued his consistency with a 45.99s, and Coley was right behind in 46.06.
Both Hill and Head had motor issues, Head also clipping a corner, and finished up stranded on the rotation islands.
"Perseverance pays off," Murray said, given he had also been on target for second at Waitara until a blower belt snapped.
Coley said while their powerful engine was running for this round, the crew found it "flat" for most of the day, leading them to change the blades.
Yet after his violent crash at Shelterview in December and engine problems in Waitara, Coley was taking third with both hands.
"It gets the confidence back a bit. We weren't back to our best in boat package, but it gets us back on the horse." This was also the first time he had completed a full round with wife Ange in the navigator seat, as she took over for Kelli Minnell and did so with the full knowledge of the risks involved the sport. However, Coley said his partner encouraged him to just continuing driving his normal, aggressive way.
"I thought it might change my driving style. We did talk about that.
"But at the end of the day, I drive to win."
Both Murray and Coley will move up to clear third and fourth spot on the points table after expat Leighton Minnell had engine problems and finished sixth, while Caughey closes the gap on Head.
The Whanganui pair will need those top two drivers to have a bad day in the remaining two rounds if they hope to surpass them, which can happen with these unpredictable engines
"Before the start of a round, if you wrote on a bit of paper where everyone would finish, I don't think you'd get it right," said Coley.
In the Group B class, Team Travers was a step ahead of Haden all day, showing their Radioactive boat is back to its best from last season as they broke into the 49s barrier during the final qualifier and stayed there for the rest of the event.
The Top 3 final saw Travers drive a 49s even time, with Haden making 51.01s while Wilson was pleased after their engine problems around the New Year to have nearly reached the series leader's speed - coming third in 51.21s.
However, Haden will retain a comfortable season points margin over Travers, still third, while extending his advantage over second placed Tim Edhouse of Owhango, who was fourth on the day after going out in the Top 5 eliminator.
"It's Paddy's [championship] to lose, but as we've seen, anything can happen," said Wilson.
He was pleased to have improved on Waitara's Top 5 finish.
"No big Gremlins, we did start the day not too flash, but got it back to where it should be. Like it was last year."
Wilson's third placing will move him up a spot to fifth on the overall standings, ahead of town mate Donna Thomson, who along with navigator Monica Couper finished seventh.
"The rest of the season for me is making sure the boat finishes 100 per cent and those gremlins are out," Wilson said.
"We've got four weeks to the next one, so hopefully we can get on top of that."
There will also be some slight adjustments to the track at Shelterview from December after the spectacular crash by Coley and Kelli Minnell where they flew out of the finishing pool and into trees 20m above the ground. Julia Murray said the start loop of the course will now also be the finish loop, with alterations made to the order of the rotations around the islands.
"They'll just cruise into the finishing pool," Julia Murray said. It was necessary as Coley's accident showed that Superboats, which have no restrictions on their engines, are only becoming more powerful.
"[Coley] didn't just leave the track, he left the property," said Murray.
"The JSA have asked us, and we feel the same, we won't be finishing in the finishing pool."
¦Round 4 results
Group B: 1. Ross Travers (Whanganui); 2. Patrick Haden (Te Awamutu). 3. Hayden Wilson (Whanganui).
Altherm Group A: 1. Sam Newdick (Hamilton); 2. Blake Briant (Gisborne); 3. Neil Marshall (New Plymouth).
Suzuki Superboats: 1. Peter Caughey (Christchurch); 2. Richard Murray (Whanganui); 3. Rob Coley (Whanganui).