Tauranga turned on a beautiful day for the eighth and final race in the 2012 New Zealand Offshore Powerboat Season, the weather co-operating with plenty of morning sunshine and only clouding over as the race progressed. The final race of the season is always exciting as it not only decides the champions for the season, but provides a final opportunity for drivers and boats to perform at their limits with plenty of time to recover over the winter months.

In true racing form, even those who looked to safely have the title for the season wrapped up were not about to throttle back. The winning instinct is strong in these guys, and even though talk before the race may imply they are going to take it easy, it's almost as if a switch is pressed the minute the race begins. Today was no exception.

'Fairview' driven by Warren Lewis and Andrew Koolen had only to finish the race to ensure their position as champions for the second year in a row in the Superboat Class, and yet as soon as the flag dropped they were off like a rocket racing both 'Schick Hydro' and 'Fujitsu Better Heat' to the first mark. Schick Hydro driven by Scott Lewis and Murray Tuffin were in top form, crossing the start line milliseconds ahead, and beating the two champion boats to the first turn. Determined to stamp their mark 'Fairview' pushed even harder and were leading the field at the end of the first lap. 'Fujitsu Better Heat' driven by Tony Coleman and Chris Hanley were not about to let Fairview get another win under their belt, and while unable to take away the title, were pretty keen to remind the Fairview boys of what they would be facing in the next season. These two boats have had a hard fought season this year and had Fujitsu won at Auckland, would have been in a position to tie the lead for the season.

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