Whanganui drivers and navigators were all over the podiums at the fourth round of the Altherm Window Systems New Zealand Jetsprint Championships on Sunday, but not at the top of them.
The speed-orientated track at Crownthorpe in the Hawke's Bay saw a near repeat of Waitara with its technical turns, as Whanganui's Rob Coley and navigator wife Ange again finished runnerup to Canterbury's Peter Caughey in the Mouth Fresh Superboats.
Coley had pulled down a 42.425s lap in the Top 6 eliminator to again be the leading qualifier for the final Top 3, where he was joined by Caughey (42.826) and another Whanganui-connection in Palmerston North's Richard Burt (42.846), who has linked up with Team Huijs racing and has local Haley Huijs as his navigator.
Burt's appearence kept both Rotorua's Nick Berryman and Whanganui's Richard Murray out of the final race, being eliminated with 43.911s and 44.27s laps respectively.
This time, while Coley would finish the day with the fastest lap by 0.2s, but neither he nor Caughey could beat that mark in the Top 3 final, as Caughey's 42.44s time was just 0.025s faster than his Whanganui rival for the win.