Photo/File
Back on December 27 they were not title contenders " just a Biolytix 400 class regular who was trying out his newest boat and the Suzuki Superboat veteran gearing up for a campaign where he might not compete at every round.
Four months later and Wanganui drivers Ross Travers and Pat Dillon have well and truly upset the established order of the PSP NZ Jet Sprint Championship and just need consistency to become first-time title holders at Westview Aluminium Aquatrack at Featherston tomorrow.
Travers has the more nervous assignment for the sixth round.
Despite his Radioactive boat dominating the series with four round wins, plus the non-series ENZED Stadium Jetsprints Cup in January, Travers missed a turn and finished 10th in Meremere at February's round three which has left him tied on points with the consistent Hamiltonian Ollie Silverton.
"We've had, consistently, almost two seconds quicker on everyone else," Travers said.
"The consensus is, 'don't have a Meremere, don't cock up'."
Recovering to win again at Crownthorpe last month and Wanaka at the start of this month, this will be Travers' first trip to Featherston to compete.
He has been on Google Maps studying the track, where there have been a few alterations to add an extra corner and make the short course a little longer.
Therefore, remembering Meremere, his full concentration will be on familiarising himself with the 22 track rotations during qualifying, confident he will still make the top 12 and can then go for it during the elimination stages.
"The boat's all set to go.
"We found a couple of little bits wrong with it [at Wanaka] so it should be a little bit better."
It does not come as a surprise to the veteran Dillon that he and other drivers like Wanganui's Rob Coley and Hamilton's Glen Head have snuck up on the multiple-time champions in Peter Caughey of Christchurch and Wanganui expat Leighton Minnell.
The boats have all gone faster this year and "shook everyone up", Dillon said. "I don't think they realise how much work people have done behind the scenes.
"There's going fast, and then there's going faster than you have to. The weakest link to my boat is me. That's why I want to sell it to a younger guy. I can follow it around and push the package," he said.
Otorohanga's Daniel Roberts, who Dillon recognised from 15-16 years ago, approached him at Meremere for a chat and Dillon mentioned the PPG Hulk was for sale. Roberts was interested and, even when the boat went on to win the round, Dillon still made a handshake deal at the original price he had quoted.
The new owner has been following the boat to each event since and he will be joined by a contingent of Dillon's friends, family and workmates heading down to support him tomorrow.
"Lots of people from Wanganui are going " it's absolutely mindblowing. It's just amazing."
Even in his swansong, Dillon has not been too sentimental.
His nine-point lead in the series is not untouchable if he makes a mistake and is eliminated early.
"If we get in the top six, we've taken it away, but we've still got to work for it. The game's still on."
"It's the best way to be finishing. To win the championship, that's also the perfect time to move on."
Others to watch will be Coley, who after a rough start has won the last two Superboat rounds and wants to make it a third, while Minnell is still an outside chance of overtaking Caughey if the Cantabrian makes an error.
In the 400s, Wanganui's defending national champion Hayden Wilson will want to consolidate third for 2015, while Donna Thomson is hunting a career-best finish of fifth.
Points after five rounds.
Biolytix 400s: 1=. Ollie Silverton (Hamilton) 138; 1=. Ross Travers (Wanganui) 138; 3. Hayden Wilson (Wanganui) 128; 4. Patrick Haden (Te Awamtu) 123; 5. Donna Thomson (Wanganui) 115.
PSP Group As: 1. Sam Newdick (Hamilton) 147; 2. Tristan Hynds (Papamoa) 136; 3. Simon Gibbon (Christchurch) 130; 4. Russell Dodds (Taupo) 116; 5. Blake Briant (Gisborne) 114.
Suzuki Superboats: 1. Pat Dillon (Wanganui) 145; 2. Peter Caughey (Christchurch) 136; 3. Leighton Minnell (New Plymouth) 129; 4. Glen Head (Hamilton) 125; 5. Rob Coley (Wanganui) 124.