Second Victory For Doosan
Championship leader's Cary Gleeson and Sam Fillmore have won the third round of the 2010 Rayglass NZ Offshore Powerboat Championships at the ‘Thunder on The Coast' event at Gulf Harbour, in their striking ‘Doosan Construction Equipment' 34ft Phantom Superboat.
It was the rookie duo's second victory in this year's series, with ‘Doosan' dominating the event ahead of ‘Fairview Windows and Doors', ‘A1 Homes', and Australian entry ‘Team 3'. The win at Gulf harbour, as well as the opening round win on Lake Taupo, and a third place finish at Gisborne, maintain the NZ Offshore Championship lead for ‘Doosan', approaching the half way point of the series.
‘Doosan' won the race start, followed initially by Scott Lewis and Murray Tuffin in the ‘A1 Homes' 32 ft. Skater. ‘Fairview' chased down ‘A1', passing them for second after a few laps. ‘A1' went onto finish a strong third, followed by the Australian ‘Team 3' 33ft Victory Cat, raced by Aussie Steve Nugent, and Kiwi throttleman Craig Archer.
‘Doosan' controlled the lead throughout the thirteen lap, 100 mile race, holding a lead of up to seventeen seconds at various stages over ‘Fairview'. With just about perfect conditions at Gulf Harbour, ‘Doosan' achieved speeds of over 120mph during the race, with even the Astral TV Camera Robinson R44 Helicopter struggling to keep up with the 1100 horsepower Offshore Superboat!
"This is a race we picked to win, because we know some of the races coming up tend to be pretty rough, and the condition's here today really suited our boat", explained ‘Doosan' throttleman Cary Gleeson after the race. "Sam and I couldn't afford to let up at any stage, because we knew Warren and Steve in ‘Fairview' weren't far behind".
"This boat corners so well, and that's where I think we had the advantage over the others here at Gulf Harbour", said an elated Sam Fillmore. "There's still a long way to go in the Championship though, so we can't afford to relax, even though we lead".
The win at Gulf Harbour extends the points lead in the Rayglass NZ Offshore Powerboat Championship for ‘Doosan' out to 325 points over ‘Fairview', with A1 Homes and ‘Team 3 tied for third overall. Just six points cover second placed ‘Fairview', and the other two Superboats tied for third, with five rounds of the series still to go at Napier, Wellington, Whitianga, Marsden Cove, And Auckland.
Championship Points: (1) Doosan 1250 points, (2) Fairview 925 points, (3=) A1 Homes 919 points, (3=) Team 3 919 points.
The ‘Doosan' team would like to thank their sponsors for their 2010 NZ Offshore campaign; Doosan Construction Equipment, AB Marine, Placemakers Cook St., Gleeson Builders, Hydraulink, Porter Hire, Schaeffer Premium Oil, John Fillmore Contracting (JFC), and Intertruck.
The next round of the Rayglass NZ Offshore Powerboat Championship will be raced in Napier on Saturday, March 6. ‘Fairview Windows and Doors' is the defending Napier 100 race winner.
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