Three rounds into the 2025/2026 New Zealand Jetsprint Championship season, competition is well and truly under way. The series opened at the Kiwispan Jet Sprint Track in Featherston in early December before moving to the Shelter View Jet Sprint Track in Wanganui just after Boxing Day. The championship has since crossed Cook Strait for its southern centrepiece.
NOVUS Glass Wānaka Aquatrack
Round 3 took place at the NOVUS Glass Wānaka Aquatrack, marking the first championship racing of 2026 and the calendar's sole South Island round. Nestled beneath the Southern Alps and barely ten minutes from the alpine township of Wānaka, the venue combined breathtaking scenery with fierce competition. Long considered one of the most technically demanding tracks in the country, the Aquatrack placed an unrelenting premium on precision, commitment, and the bond between driver and navigator.
Already a close championship
Two northern rounds had left the title race finely balanced across all classes heading into Wānaka.
In the Southern Jet Superboats, Sam Newdick and Shama Putaranui shared the top of the standings on 59 points with Reuben Hoeksema and Suzi Katavich after Wanganui. Mike Hessell and Shaun White occupied third on 53 points, with David Simmons and Pip Thompson just one point further back on 52. Only seven points covered the top four.
Group A was no less compressed. Matt Hareb and Hayden George led on 60 points, with Ollie Silverton and Amanda Kittow within two points on 58. Kris Rasmussen and Holly Sutherland sat on 56, and Ross Travers and Jackie Hawker remained within reach.
In the Mikes Transport Warehouse (MTW) LS Class, John Verry and Grace Alder held the lead on 59 points. Conner Nairn and James Tuckey, along with Paddy and Jay Haden, were grouped together on 54, with Jackson Hopkins and Dana Doyle a single point adrift.
MTW Group B had Hamish Clarke and Lisa Seator in front on 60 points, with Gemma Johnson and Richard Currie on 58. Greg Wilson and Katie Wilson were locked level with Andrew Craig and Scott Gouman, both pairs on 54.
Round 3 results
Wānaka wasted no time reshaping the momentum of the season.
The Southern Jet Superboats final was settled by 0.001 of a second. Reuben Hoeksema and Suzi Katavich held their nerve to claim the victory for the 2JZ Jetsprint Team, with Sam Newdick and Shama Putaranui finishing second for Systems Racing in another display of the consistency they have shown all season. Si Gibbon and Sarah Gibbon rounded out the podium for Novus Glass. The wafer-thin winning margin captured just how demanding the Wānaka course is, with competitors navigating a sequence of 34 numbered turns from start to finish.
Group A produced another strong result for Matt Hareb and Hayden George, who took the win for No Limits Racing. Ollie Silverton and Amanda Kittow came home second for Systems Racing, while Kris Rasmussen and Holly Sutherland secured third for Venom. The leading championship contenders once again finished bunched together, ensuring the title fight remains wide open.
Conner Nairn and James Tuckey delivered a timely win in the LS Class, taking victory for Never Fold. Paddy and Jay Haden finished second for Skitso, with John Verry and Grace Alder banking a third-place finish for the Link ECU Jetsprint Team.
Group B belonged to Gemma Johnson and Richard Currie, who won for Black Forest Jet Sprint Team. Hamish Clarke and Lisa Seator followed in second for Loud N Thirsty, and Greg Wilson and Katie Wilson completed the podium for No Idea Racing.
Up next: Mountain View Jetsprint Track in Taranaki
Three rounds in, Hoeksema and Katavich have turned their northern form into a decisive South Island result, while Newdick and Putaranui continue to shadow them closely. In Group A, Hareb and George have set the standard, but Silverton, Kittow, Rasmussen, and Sutherland are not going away. The LS Class still has no clear leader, and Group B is shaping up as a four-way tussle all the way to the finish.
Attention now shifts north, with Round 4 of the New Zealand Jetsprint Championship scheduled for the Mountain View Jetsprint Track in Taranaki on Saturday 14 February 2026.
