"I couldn't believe it" said Warren Lewis, after winning round 5 of the Cougar Marine/Inex Metals offshore championship series at Tauranga.
Along with brother Scott Lewis, they lead from start to finish and in fact in the later stages of the race were increasing their lead over second place getter Sleepyhead.
For Peter Turner and Craig Turner, their golden run of four championship wins came to an end at Tauranga after just over 1 hours racing.
For the Lewis Brothers it was their first overall win after four years of racing.
"We have done a lot of testing over the last few weeks and it has obviously paid off", said Warren.
With FMI never looking like being beaten in the 100nm race, Sleepyhead was left to battle buoy for buoy with Tony Coleman's Cure Kids. Driving one of the best races this season, the Cure Kids team hung onto the wake of Sleepyhead but at the end the seasoned Sleepyhead team just had enough to take second overall. With foiur wins and a second they still maintain a strong lead in the championship.
In Superboat Light, Kelly Smith and Travis Thompson took their third win of the season in Rayglass. Leading from the first buoy, they held of a strong challenge from Grant Smith and David Aldridge in Addictive for the first few laps. However the gremlins struck again and Addictive limped home fourth, leaving Cary Gleeson and Sam Fillmore in Doosan to take second from Bob Smith and Mark Taiatini in Family Boats third.
First in the 60 mile race was local Mark Diggleman in Finance Point.co.nz from Greg Brink's Konica Minolta. Classic class went to Exception to Rule driven by Geoff Weake.
Formula Honda was one of the closest finishes of the season with Mark and Bryce Helms talking first place in Electropar. This was their first class win after three seasons of racing. In the same event last year they flipped in spectacular fashion. You could have thrown a blanket over the next three boats in the class with Building Solutions, Light Industries and Honda Marine finishing within a few seconds of each other after 60 miles.
The next round of the championship will be held at Whitianga on April 12th.
2008 Cougar Marine and Inex Metals Drivers Championship
Official Race Results - Tauranga – 29 March 2008
100-Mile – Overall placings
Place. Boat Name, Driver Name|Co Driver Name, From
1. Fairview Windows, Scott Lewis|Warren Lewis, Auckland
2. Sleepyhead, Peter Turner|Craig Archer, Auckland
3. Cure Kids, Tony Coleman|Grant Valder, Auckland
4. ProFloors, Wayne Valder|Ross Christensen, Auckland
5. Rayglass, Kelly Smith|Travis Thompson, Wellington
6. Doosan, Sam Fillmore|Cary Gleeson, Auckland
7. Family Boats, Bob Smith|Mark Taitanini, Auckland
8. Addictive, Dave Aldridge|Grant Smith, Wellington
Superboat Class
Place. Boat Name, Driver Name|Co Driver Name, From
1. Fairview Windows, Scott Lewis|Warren Lewis, Auckland
2. Sleepyhead, Peter Turner|Craig Archer, Auckland
3. Cure Kids, Tony Coleman|Grant Valder, Auckland
4. ProFloors, Wayne Valder|Ross Christensen, Auckland
Superboat Light
Place. Boat Name, Driver Name|Co Driver Name, From
1. Rayglass, Kelly Smith|Travis Thompson, Wellington
2. Doosan, Sam Fillmore|Cary Gleeson, Auckland
3. Family Boats, Bob Smith|Mark Taitanini, Auckland
4. Addictive, Dave Aldridge|Grant Smith, Wellington
60-Mile – Overall Placings (Sports Boats)
Place. Boat Name, Driver Name|Co Driver Name, From
1. Finance Point, Mark Diggleman|Craig Parsons, Napier
2. Exception to the Rules, Jeff Weake|John Hewson, Hamilton
3. Marine Workz, Mike Cameron|Andrew Hilliar, Auckland
4. Konica Minolta, Greg Brink|Eldon Archer, Auckland
5. Stealth Powerboats, Tim Fellows|Mark Coburn, Otaki
6. Topline Builders, Tony Beetham|Jonathan Haack, Auckland
7. Family Boats – YMF, Brendan Grant|Steve Lockhart, Auckland
8. Eliminator, John Purchase|Lee Mason, Whangaparoa
9. Bad Boys, Chris Hicks|Mitch Thompson, Wellington
10. Team Dilligaf, Lance Dawson|Paul Maria, Auckland
11. Challenger, Kevin Ireland|Nick Coles, Cambridge
DNF. Spirit of Cheyenne, Chris Neyle|Dan Bridge, Auckland
Super 60 (over 225hp)
Place. Boat Name, Driver Name|Co Driver Name, From
1. Finance Point, Mark Diggleman|Craig Parsons, Napier
2. Topline Builders, Tony Beetham|Jonathan Haack, Auckland
Sports 60
Place. Boat Name, Driver Name|Co Driver Name, From
1. Konica Minolta, Greg Brink|Eldon Archer, Auckland
2. Stealth Powerboats, Tim Fellows|Mark Coburn, Otaki
3. Challenger, Kevin Ireland|Nick Coles, Cambridge
Sports 60 Restricted
Place. Boat Name, Driver Name|Co Driver Name, From
1. Family Boats – YMF, Brendan Grant|Steve Lockhart, Auckland
2. Eliminator, John Purchase|Lee Mason, Whangaparoa
3. Bad Boys, Chris Hicks|Mitch Thompson, Wellington
Sports Classic Class
Place. Boat Name, Driver Name|Co Driver Name, From
1. Exception to the Rules, Jeff Weake|John Hewson, Hamilton
2. Marine Workz, Mike Cameron|Andrew Hilliar, Auckland
3. Team Dilligaf, Lance Dawson|Paul Maria, Auckland
DNF. Spirit of Cheyenne, Chris Neyle|Dan Bridge, Auckland
Formula Honda Class
Place. Boat Name, Driver Name|Co Driver Name, From
1. Miss Electropar, Mark Helms|Bryce Helms, Auckland
2. Building Solutionsd, Mike Knight |Shannon Thickpenny, Auckland
3. Light Industry, Mike Urquhart|Darrin Urquhart, Whangaparoa
4. Honda Marine, Carl Thompson|Rob Glen, Auckland
5. Cougar Marine, Michael Smith|Matt Hopkins, Wellington
6. Mike Pero Mortgages, Grant Garrity|Jason Garrity, Havelock North
7. CRD Automotive, Colin Dunn|Zane Dunn, Laingholm
8. Team Altitude (Team '4 Sale'), Tony Todd|Vaughn Warner, Raglin
9. The Gambler, Kevin Smith|Simon Guard, Palm North
DNF. Morrell Motors, Mark Morrell|Logan Morrell, Taupo
DNF. Auckland District Collections, Simon Freeman|Sean Bryant, Auckland
DNS. Back to Bay6, Glen Powell|Chris Powell, Hamilton
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