2004 UIM - WSJ WORLD JETSPRINT CHAMPIONSHIPS

ROUND 1 Feilding, March 14th

INTERNATIONAL GROUP A  

Qualifying:

Forty crews faced the starter with three from the United States, eleven from Australia and the balance from New Zealand, the host country.

Defending champion Hamish Pryde immediately took the initiative by posting a sub-50 second run in the first round to be more than one and a half seconds clear of the pack, but the gap quickly closed and Pryde was unable to match his 49.32 in his next three runs.

When the four qualifiers ended Todd Bruning had set the fastest time with 49.45 against his name, followed by Rex Briant on 49.83 and Pryde.

The impressive first year female driver Cheryl Easton was a sensational fourth quickest wiith a best 50.25, Darrin Munro was next with 50.88 and the local domination continued with Daryl Hutton, Tony Sargison, Peter Schuler, Ron Richards and Richard Burt in the 51 second bracket, joined by American Shaun Mathews. Best of the Australians was Kim Sanders with a best of 52.57, his compatriots and the balance of the United States drivers struggled in the tricky water conditions.

Also qualifying were Simon Campbell (52.50), Pat Dillon (52.54), Duncan Campbell (53.05) and David White (53.13).  

Top 16 Elimination:

Bruning upped the pace by running a 48.75, Pryde ran 49.62 and Briant 49.88, closest to the trio were Munro on 50.33 and Hutton 50.73.

Sargison, Schuler and Richards clocked 51's to stay in the competition, White's 52.16 being best of the rest.

Mathews ran a 52.24 while Easton's bubble burst with a disappointing 54.43 and Sanders could do no better than 52.54, making the balance of the competition an all-New Zealand affair.

Top 8 Elimination:

Briant became the pacesetter with a 48.90 pass, Bruning was closest on 49.37 and Pryde's 49.53 kept him in contention.
Also progressing was Munro who recorded 49.97, edging out Richards who clocked 50.59 and Sargison on 50.62. Also gone were Huttton (50.98) and Schuler (51.52).

Final 4:

Running first Munro's hopes ended when he beached, Pryde was next out on the track and clocked 49.58.
Bruning dropped to 48.91and was joined in the Final by Briant who edged out Pryde by 3/100ths of a second.

Final:

As the slower qualifier Briant ran first and set a new fastest time with a superb 48.69 run, Bruning was 9/100ths up at the split but a small error in the second sector cost him time and the clock stopped at 49.00.
 

Qualifying:

Twelve crews were entered, single drivers from Australia and the United States joining the nine from New Zealand.

Disaster struck Peter Briant in the second round when he engine expired, the defending champion double-teaming with Ian Easton for the remainder of the event. Peter Caughey had to correct a course rotation error in the same round but from that point he became locked in a titanic struggle with Rodney Pohio as the pair traded times, Caughey finally prevailing with a best 45.35 to Pohio's 45.88.

Reg Smith clocked the next best time of 46.50, Easton ran a 46.78 and Briant showed his class with 46.94 as he adapted to the unfamiliar boat. Erik Hoeksema, Bryan Smith and Leigh Goodman ran in the 47's where they were joined by Chris Munro, the former world Group A champion making his Superboat debut.

Jeremy O'Driscoll was the only other driver to post a sub 50-second time with a best 49.14, Lee Rice clocked a 51.77 and Graeme Mincham recorded a best 52.23.

Top 16 Elimination:

All eleven starters progressed to the elimination rounds, and it was Caughey who maintained a red hot pace by getting down to 44.89, Pohio responding with 45.14.

Munro posted an impressive 46.27 to head Reg Smith's 46.46 which was just 2/100ths ahead of Bryan Smith, Briant ran 47.03, Easton 47.11 and Goodman 47.22 to progress to the next round.

Mincham was unable to match the pace with 51.51, while Hoeksema and Rice failed to make the start because o mechanical problems.

Top 8 Elimination:

All eleven starters processed to the elimination rounds, and it was Caughey who maintained a red hot pace by getting down to 44.89, Pohio responding with 45.14.

Munro posted an impressive 46.27 to head Reg Smith's 46.46 which was just 2/100ths ahead of Bryan Smith, Briant ran 47.03, Easton 47.11 and Goodman 47.22 to progress to the next round.

Mincham was unable to match the pace with 51.51, while Hoeksema and Rice failed to make the start because o mechanical problems.

Final 4:

Bryan Smith's 45.52 proved to quicker than Briant who recorded 45.84, but neither was a match for the front running pair.

Caughey dropped down to 44.72 and Pohio came back with a superb 44.47 to setup the final.

Final:

First out, Caughey ran through the split at 15.93 and clocked a new fastest time of 44.32, forcing Pohio to raise his game again.

The former world champion was more than equal to the task, through the first sector in 15.83 and producing a sensational second sector that stopped the clock at 44.22 for victory by 1/10th of a second.