New boat, new mentor, same "win it or bin it" attitude.
Whanganui's Rob Coley made the perfect start to the Mouthfresh New Zealand Jetsprint Championships as he held off Hamilton rival Glen Head by only 0.049 seconds to win the Superboat round at Upokongaro's Shelterview track on Thursday evening.
Coley and Head have always been two of the most aggressive drivers in Superboats, and are eager to fill the void left at the top of the sport by the retirement of Canterbury's multiple time champion Peter Caughey.
However, Caughey's influence was still keenly felt at Shelterview as he has built the latest Poison Ivy boat for Coley – a 1200hp Nissan Twin Turbo – and came to the track to offer him some crucial advice when the pressure mounted through the elimination rounds, as nine qualifiers were whittled down to six and then three.
Coley's victory was the high point of a strong day for the locals on their home track, with Hayden Wilson winning the Group B division and Ross Travers finishing third in Group A.
Rob Coley won the home round for the first time in his Superboat driving career as the NZ Jetsprint Championships got underway at Upokongaro's Shelterview track on Thursday.
In the unlimited power Superboats, Head was the first racer to break into the 49s mark for completing a lap, which he was doing by just the third qualifying runs.
Many drivers were feeling the pressure as Te Awamutu's Paddy Haden, last season's Group B champion moving up to the big boats, spun out after finishing his Top 9 race, while Auckland's Baden Gray saw his engine flame out.
Coley nearly had a banana-skin moment at the first hairpin corner in the Top 9, as he mistimed it and lost crucial momentum which could have seen him eliminated, with the leading drivers only separated by 1.5s.
However, Coley drove the paint off Poison Ivy to recover for a 50.72s lap, falling back from second fastest qualifier to fifth, but still safely above the cut-off line to move to the Top 6.
Track owner Richard Murray had surprised everyone with an excellent 50.463s lap, which came after his crew had been dealing with fuel pressure issues.
Murray leapfrogged several drivers to move up to second qualifier, ahead of a surprised Nick Berryman (50.699s), last season's runnerup from Rotorua.
Head didn't care what was happening behind him, as he smashed out an excellent 48.792s lap, which would be the record for the day.
The tension mounted in the Top 6 as Murray ended up on the official's clock with his crew trying to get the boat up to scratch again, while contender Berryman got lost and went the wrong way.
With the clouds giving way to a low-hanging sun which was reflecting off parts of the track, known as sun-strike to drivers, Coley was back up to speed with a 49.763s lap, while Head kept his nose in front with a 49.604s run.
Murray got out on the water in time but could only manage a 51.328s lap, barely edged out of the Top 3 eliminator by Gisborne's Blake Briant (51.186s).
With the sun-strike becoming more pronounced as the event was running a few minutes long, there was a delay in the pitlane as the drivers considered their situation.
Knowing he didn't have the pace of the two leaders, Briant forced the issue by taking off and throwing down a personal best 50.925s lap, now hoping the impaired vision and pressure would tell on Head and Coley.
Coley, fearless as ever, just followed on and pushed it to the limit in signature style, putting down his own personal best for the day at 49.343s.
All eyes were now on Head, and ironically a bit of cloud had settled over the sun again, but the decisive moment was again at the first hairpin.
Head mistimed it worse than Coley had in the Top 9, losing precious milliseconds, but the indomitable Hamiltonian threw his boat around the remaining corners at full throttle in an extraordinary comeback drive which saw him finish an impossibly tight second in 49.392s.
After his near calamity in the Top 9, Coley credited Caughey with advising him to keep improving, tidying up his lines and trying to ease the boat through the corners, so you're already set up for the next turn.
"We struggled with that [first hairpin] all day. I was too aggressive, thrashing the throttle.
"She was a bit winded [in Top 9]. It's just so responsive and the acceleration is unreal.
Although he has never been afraid to push the envelope, Coley said the sun-strike was not as hazardous as it may have looked from above track.
"It was so quick and out of it. You're already on the straight so you knew where you had to go.
"Win it or bin it. Pete [Caughey] won't be happy to hear me saying that.
"It's fantastic to win it here, my home crowd. My friends and family, I think we had 50 people here today."
Another good crowd watched the action as Whanganui Speed Week continued.
There is a new force rising in the limited power Group A class, as Travers and recently crowned world series champion Ollie Silverton had to make way for New Plymouth's Sean Rice, who claimed the round win in a very close Top 3 eliminator.
Earlier in the Top 9, Rice suddenly exploded into form with a 52.387s lap, moving from fourth qualifier to the head of the class.
In a double drive with his father, Whanganui's Shane Travers had been settling in for his first event in the driver's seat since switching from navigator, and his 55.309s time was his best of the day.
However, the leading drivers in the division were all down in the 52s range, and although Ross Travers was slightly off the pace with a 53.739s time, qualifying fifth, it was enough to eliminate his son.
Now with the Radioactive boat to himself, Travers senior improved slightly in the Top 6 eliminator, with his 53.123s time enough to secure third fastest, helped by Christchurch contender Simon Gibbon, last season's 2NZ, getting lost and being unable to find his way back to the correct rotation.
Hamilton's Silverton moved back ahead of Rice, but only just with a 52.087s lap compared to 52.673s.
In the final race, Travers looked smooth and brought his time down to 52.754s, enough to put the pressure on Silverton and Rice.
The Taranaki driver responded with a likewise personal best 52.254s, using every bit of width he could find, and while Silverton was ahead at the time split during his run, he could not quite pull out the same execution for the final third on the lap, finishing with 52.343s.
Ross Travers finished third in the Group A division.
"There wasn't much between all [top] six," said Travers afterwards.
Massaging a sore shoulder and leg from a hard day's racing, Travers said the goal had been to make the Top 6 and then see what happens, so he was delighted to be on the podium.
Dad was also proud of his son for his first competition driving, and with how their whole team had handled the transitions between the two sets of crews.
"We were flat out changing drivers.
"We're getting in a routine and hopefully nothing goes wrong, so that we're put out. We'll sort it."
The series will resume on February 16 in Meremere.
