Round 1 – Greg Harriman Memorial Round, Round Mountain Raceway (Tweed Heads, NSW)
The season opener at New South Wales’ Round Mountain Raceway (26–27 July) set the tone for what’s shaping up as a fiercely contested championship. The Greg Harriman Memorial Round honoured one of the sport’s great supporters in the 2025-2026 season opener.
LS Class Drop Bear Racing made an emotional return after last season’s crash, Laurie and Karen Howlett admitting to “nerves and gratitude in equal measure” before hitting the water again. Across the paddock, Spartan Time lived up to its name with a heavy crash early on Saturday; then, less than 30 minutes later, the team had the boat patched, inspected, and racing again. “You can’t keep these legends down,” came the announcer’s call, and the crowd agreed. The same team will contest this season’s New Zealand Jet Sprint Championship, and their quick turnaround at Round Mountain hints at just how determined they are to win no matter what side of the Tasman they’re racing.
The round also marked a milestone for women in the sport. New navigators Lizzie Cook (aboard Excalibur) and An Le Tran (Moist Az) jumped in for their first-ever competitive runs; Cook had never even been in a Superboat before. By Sunday both were “hooked, not shook”, beaming after surviving the tightest corners in Australian jetsprinting.
Round 1 winners
- Unlimited: Tyler Finch & Kyle Elphinstone (Loose Cannon) – 1st; Daryl Hutton (R & J Batteries) – 2nd; Peter Mongrel (Mongrel) – 3rd.
- Group A: Justin Roylance & Tracey Little (Outlaw) – 1st; Bastian Mullan (ASP) – 2nd; Kennedy’s Racing – 3rd.
- LS Class: Nate Mullan & Kirstin Schubert (Ripshift) – 1st; Matt Malthouse (Nood Nutz Racing A) – 2nd; Matthew Hareb (Moist Az) – 3rd.
Round 1 also delivered rare drama for reigning world champion Phonsy Mullan, whose Ramjet flamed out mid-run, proof that even the best can be caught out when running at the edge of physics.
Round 2 – Spitwater Arena, Keith, South Australia
By mid-October, the racing had moved to Keith for Round 2, and the action turned ruthless. The Spitwater Arena circuit is compact, just 1.21 kilometres, but unforgiving, a place where championship dreams can unravel in a single wrong rotation.
This round saw Hamilton-based PSP Racing’s Ollie Silverton and Amanda Kittow join the Australian field, adding a trans-Tasman twist to the mix, and offering an early glimpse of how the New Zealand season might shape up.
Unlimited Class – Mullan masterclass
Phonsy Mullan and Kiwi navigator Niketa Wells unleashed the Ramjet Southern Jet in perfect form, clocking 46.165 seconds in the final to win the class. It was a clean, surgical display that reaffirmed why Mullan holds the world crown. “Winner winner chicken dinner,” the Ramjet Racing team posted afterward, celebrating the rebound from their Round 1 DNF. Tyler Finch (Loose Cannon) and Daryl Hutton (R & J Batteries) completed the podium with consistent 47- and 49-second runs, showing how tight the Unlimited field has become.
Group A – Kiwi precision in Outlaw B
Borrowed boat, borrowed base, same result. Ollie Silverton and Amanda Kittow of Hamilton-based PSP Racing “jumped the ditch” to race Outlaw B, the sister boat of Australian champion Justin Roylance. Their gamble paid off: a blistering 50.547 seconds earned them the Group A win and bragging rights for New Zealand. Kittow summed it up best: “Borrowed a boat, hit send mode, got the number one!” It was a proud trans-Tasman moment, and a reminder that Kiwi teams remain among the best in the sport.
LS Class – Family firepower
The Mullan legacy continued in LS Class, with Nate Mullan taking back-to-back victories in Ripshift. His 51.790-second final was less than a second clear of the two Nood Nutz Racing boats, piloted by Mitch and Matt Malthouse. It’s the sort of tight, high-skill racing that defines the category; accessible, fast, and unforgiving of hesitation.
Performance and rivalry
Across both rounds, the Mullan family proved dominant: Phonsy (Unlimited), Nate (LS), and Bastian (Group A) each scoring top-three results. They’ve effectively set a benchmark for pace and preparation, while the Kiwi contingent of Silverton and Kittow continue to push the Australians on their own turf. With Southern Jet engineering common to many hulls, the technological rivalry is as fierce as the racing itself.
Next stop is Round 3 back at Round Mountain Raceway, Tweed Heads (NSW) on 8 November, before the series connects once again with New Zealand’s Jet Sprint Championship in December. Among the confirmed competitors heading across the Tasman are Ramjet Racing’s Phonsy Mullan and Niketa Wells in the Superboats, along with both Spartan Time crews, Mike Hessell with Shaun White, and Luke Walters with Andy Giles from Wānaka, all racing in the top class. Their inclusion sets the stage for a genuine Trans-Tasman showdown when the season resumes.
From Greg Harriman’s memorial track to Keith’s brutal arena, the 2025–26 Penrite V8 Superboats Championship has already delivered everything fans love about jetsprinting: power, precision, and people who refuse to lift off the throttle.
