Sleepyhead wins Auckland Offshore Race

by Event PR on 13 May 2008 Although they had the 2008 New Zealand Offshore Power Boat Championship in the bag after winning the penultimate round sponsored series in Napier of the Cougar Marine/Inex Metals, Peter Turner and Craig Archer driving Sleepyhead again stamped their dominance on the Superboat Class with an emphatic win at Auckland.

Right from the start there was an early challenge from Wayne Carson and Tony Coleman in Cure Kids, Fairview Windows and Doors, Scott Lewis and Chris Hanley, and Profloors driven by Wayne Valder and Ross Christensen, midday through the 100 mile event they had a comfortable lead which they never relinquished. Cure Kids held on for a well deserved second place from Fairview Windows and Doors who had earlier been the front runner for a number of the early laps, but dropped back to take a final third place.

The Superboat Light class ended up being a two boat race with Grant Smith and Dave Aldridge driving addictive and Kelly Smith/Travis Thompson in Rayglass. The had a transom to bow race for the entire 15 laps and it wasn’t until the final lap that Rayglass managed to pull ahead and take the win. This also gave them the overall Superboat Light championship for 2008.

In 60 mile race noone had an answer for Mark Diggleman and Craig Parson in Finance Point, who lead from the first lap and never looked like being beaten. Mike Cameron once again showed his domination of Classic Class with another win in MarineWorkz.

However the race of the day was in the Formula Honda class with the 2008 championship riding on the last race. Michael Knight driving Building Solutions and Mike Smith driving Cougar Marine had to beat each other to win. While Michael and Debbie Urquhart took the class win, it was the battle for second place that was of special interest.

Building Solutions took the early advantage and looked like holding out Cougar marine, until a spin-out halfway through the race, saw his chance of the championship go in a flash. Cougar Marine shot past and Building Solutions was never able to make up the distance. Mike Smith and Matt Hopkins not only won the championship with their second overall class finish but also a trip for two to the UK to compete in a Formula Honda race.

 

Place	Boat Name	Driver Name	Co Driver Name	From
1	Sleepyhead	Peter Turner	Craig Archer	Auckland
2	Cure Kids	Tony Coleman	Wayne Carson	Auckland
3	Fairview Windows	Scott Lewis	Chris Hanley	Auckland
4	ProFloors	Wayne Valder	Ross Christensen	Auckland
5	Rayglass	Kelly Smith	Travis Thompson	Wellington
6	Addictive	Dave Aldridge	Grant Smith	Wellington
7	Doosan	Sam Fillmore	Cary Gleeson	Auckland
8	Family Boat	Bob Smith	Mark Taitini	Auckland

Place	Boat Name	Driver Name	Co Driver Name	From
1	Sleepyhead	Peter Turner	Craig Archer	Auckland
2	Cure Kids	Tony Coleman	Wayne Carson	Auckland
3	Fairview Windows	Scott Lewis	Chris Hanley	Auckland
4	ProFloors	Wayne Valder	Ross Christensen	Auckland

Place	Boat Name	Driver Name	Co Driver Name	From
1	Rayglass	Kelly Smith	Travis Thompson	Wellington
2	Addictive	Dave Aldridge	Grant Smith	Wellington
3	Doosan	Sam Fillmore	Cary Gleeson	Auckland
4	Family Boat	Bob Smith	Mark Taitini	Auckland

Place	Boat Name	Driver Name	Co Driver Name		From
1	Finance Point	Mark Diggleman	Craig Parsons		Napier
2	Marine Workz	Mike Cameron	Andrew Hilliar		Auckland
3	Top Line Builders	Tony Beetham	Jonathan Hack		Auckland
4	Exception to the Rules	Jeff Weake	Jon Hewson		Hamilton
5	Konica Minolta	Greg Brink	Eldon Archer		Auckland
6	Stealth Powerboats	Tim Fellows	Mark Coburn		Otaki
7	Scarab	Tony Carson	Max Carson		Napier
8	Family Boat YMF	Steve Lockhart	Shane Mitchell		Auckland
9	Eliminator	John Purchase	Lee Mason		Auckland
10	Outlaw	Derek Walden	Tracy Waldon		Auckland
11	Cykotic	Mike Gerbic	Haydn Means		Auckland
DIS	Midnight Express	Tony Marsh	Ian MacDonald		Auckland
DIS	007	Peter Escher	Igor Efremer		Auckland
DNF	Spirit of Cheyenne	Chris Neyle	Dan Bridge		Auckland
DNF	Diligaf	Lance Dawson	Paul Porky		Auckland
DNS	ProFloors Concrete	Brett Flexman		Sarina Flexman	Auckland

Place	Boat Name	Driver Name	Co Driver Name	From
1	Finance Point	Mark Diggleman	Craig Parsons	Napier
2	Top Line Builders	Tony Beetham	Jonathan Hack	Auckland
3	Cykotic	Mike Gerbic	Haydn Means	Auckland

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
DNS	ProFloors Concrete	Brett Flexman	Sarina Flexman	Auckland

Place	Boat Name	Driver Name	Co Driver Name	From
1	Family Boat YMF	Steve Lockhart	Shane Mitchell	Auckland
2	Eliminator	John Purchase	Lee Mason	Auckland

Place	Boat Name	Driver Name	Co Driver Name	From
1	Marine Workz	Mike Cameron	Andrew Hilliar	Auckland
2	Exception to the Rules	Jeff Weake	Jon Hewson	Hamilton
3	Scarab	Tony Carson	Max Carson	Napier
4	Outlaw	Derek Walden	Tracy Waldon	Auckland
DIS	Midnight Express	Tony Marsh	Ian MacDonald	Auckland
DIS	007	Peter Escher	Igor Efremer	Auckland
DNF	Spirit of Cheyenne	Chris Neyle	Dan Bridge	Auckland
DNF	Diligaf	Lance Dawson	Paul Porky	Auckland

Place	Boat Name	Driver Name98 cvw	Co Driver Name	From
1	Light Industry	Mike Urquhart	Debbie Urquhart	Napier
2	Cougar Marine	Michael Smith	Matt Hopkins	Wellington
3	Building Solutions	Mike Knight	Shannon Thickpenny	Auckland
4	Honda Marine	Carl Thompson	Rob Glen	Auckland
5	Miss Electropar	Mark Helms	Bryce Helms	Auckland
6	Back to Bay6	Glen Powell	Chris Powell	Hamilton
8	Team Altitude (Team ‘4 Sale’)	Tony Todd	Cooney	Raglin
9	Morrell Motors	Mark Morrell	Logan Morrell	Taupo
10	The Gambler	Simon Guard	John Linkhorn	Palm North
DNF	Auckland District Collections	Simon Freeman	Sean Bryant	Auckland
DNF	CRD Automotive	Colin Dunn	Zane Dunn	Laingholm