Whanganui drivers praying for change in fortunes

DUE FOR LUCK: After accidents and engine issues, Rob Coley and his fellow Whanganui jetsprint drivers are hoping Lady Luck will shine on them at Hastings Sunday.PHOTO/FILE

Whanganui's Superboat drivers will want all the horse shoes, rabbit's feet and four leaf clovers they can muster ahead of the fourth round of the PSP NZ Jet Sprint Championships at the Riverside Jet Track in Hastings tomorrow.

Both the Poison Ivy of Rob Coley and the Meaner Machine of Richard Murray sit tied for fourth spot on the points table at the halfway stage of the national season, but they will need Hamilton leader Glen Head and joint second-placed Peter Caughey of Christchurch and Whanganui expat Leighton Minnell to "have an off" if they are going to make up the ground.

Murray had been on track for a runner-up showing at Round 3 of the series at the new Waitara track two weeks ago, but a snapped blower belt in his Ford engine left him dead in the water during the Top 5 shootout.

"Hopefully we can do a bit better in Hastings than we did in Waitara," he said. "We're in contention, you could say, just keep doing what we're doing."

Murray has replaced the blower belt, having been told by 2015's national champion Paddy Dillon, who sold him the boat, that it had never snapped on him during all his year's of racing the craft.

"It's just been the luck of the draw and I've had my fair share," said Murray. "Poor Rob, he's had it worse."

Coley, who was sitting third after December's opening round in Meremere, made national headlines with his spectacular airborne crash up the finishing pool embankment at Shelterview on December 27.

He replaced the hull for the UIM World Series in January, but when coming back for the nationals in Waitara, Coley had problem after problem and managed only one qualifying run, with the lack of practice leading to a rotation error which saw him eliminated in the Top 12.

Therefore, both men need their competition to likewise have some early DNFs to make up the points with three rounds remaining, which Murray as a former Group A national champion knows is always a prospect.

"You never know. I was 12 points behind Sam [Newdick] and we beat him, and that was on one night."

Murray claimed the 2014 Group A title from Hamiltonian Newdick when he made a wrong turn in the opening eliminator of the final round under lights at Shelterview, with Murray going on to win the round and the title.

After this weekend, night action will return to Shelterview on April 9 after being missed last season, with the final round at Featherston on April 24.

Also looking to make up ground at Hastings tomorrow will be the Whanganui competitors in the Group B championship.

Ross Travers in Radioactive got the win in Waitara to move back into contention in third place, although he has a lot of ground to make up on Te Awamutu's Patrick Haden and Owanga's Tim Edhouse.

Meanwhile, after consistent rounds of fifth, fourth and sixth, Two-a-Breast's Donna Thompson sits in fifth position, two points ahead of fellow Whanganui driver and former champion Hayden Wilson in White Noize.