Third on debut for Hi-Tec Racing at Cabarita

Rnd#3 Continental Tyres Australian Superboat Championships

Cabarita Beach, NSW – July 10-11
words | Sean Henshelwood 321Ignition Magazine

“You can’t be disappointed if you get beaten after setting a time like that,” Hi-Tec Racing’s Phil Dixon admitted after daughter Brooke’s run in the top six during the third round of the Continental Tyres Australian Superboat Championships at Cabarita Beach over the weekend.

Against one of the biggest fields in Superboat history and one of the venues biggest crowds, Brooke showed from the outset that she would be a contender, emphatically stamping her authority on an event she had won 12 months earlier by dominating the opening qualifying round.

“Normally I’d ease myself into it, but I love Cabarita, it’s a real drivers circuit, and the new boat is handling brilliantly, it’s just so easy and comfortable to drive,” Brooke said.

Resplendent in the colours of new sponsor Hi-Tec Oils, Brooke was more than half a second up on the field in the opening qualifying round, astounding even her multiple championship winning father. “Brooke’s normally a conservative starter and she eases herself towards the front as the day goes on,” he shrugged in mock surprise, “but this time she’s right on target from the opening session.”

From the opening qualifier up until the third round, Brooke was hot on the pace of the leaders, comfortably making the top 12, and then the top six.
“The competition is so strong now that you can’t afford to ease yourself in to a pace, you just have to go out there and give it your best every lap,” she admitted.

With six of the best boats in the world lining up for a berth in the final, you knew you were going to witness something special, and the amassed crowd were not to be disappointed. The Triple X team who dominated the opening days Dash 4 Cash were always going to set a strong pace, but that didn’t deter Brooke, although despite a stunning run, she fell an agonising 14 one hundredths short of Triple X Racing’s championship points leader Ted Sygidus to be classified fourth.

“To be less than two tenths off second fastest and with a time within thousandths of her best time of the weekend, we know Brooke was giving it everything we had,” Phil Dixon beamed afterwards.

Despite missing the podium, the points structure for the Australian championships actually saw Brooke placed third on aggregate points, displacing third placed [in the final] Jake Garlick.

“This is a strong recovery from the frustrations of the opening round at the Hi-Tec Oils Superpark in Temora where we sadly suffered mechanical issues and were forced to retire before the finals. That will be our ‘drop’ round as the championship scores the four best point scoring rounds of five, so we’re still well and truly in the title hunt.

“Brooke has won national championship rounds at both Maryborough and Temora, so she’s still in with a strong chance in the championship.”
“I’m pretty happy with that result,” Brooke smiled afterwards. “We’d have loved to put Hi-Tec Oils onto the podium first time out, and we didn’t miss by much, but we took the points and that’s important. We also showed that we’re still well and truly in this, so I’m really looking forward to Maryborough which is my favourite track.”

Whilst Brooke was running a hot pace at the front, the boat’s ‘B’ driver, Louise Dixon was concentrating hard on finding a pace that would get her into the top ten. “This is so different to Superboat,” the former Queensland Unlimited class champion admitted with frustration. “It’s a completely different style of racing to the Unlimited class, but just as competitive.”

By the close of the qualifying rounds Louise had put herself into the top ten, but whilst she was improving with every run, she was also mindful of making sure that daughter Brooke had a boat that was 100% ready to campaign the finals.

“At the end of the day, this is Brooke’s boat and she’s the lead driver, so I do a lot of testing to help her tune the boat, and whilst I know I can go faster, there’s been a number of drivers pushing too hard and coming out of the track and we can’t afford to do that when we’re chasing valuable championship points.”

Despite her conservative drive, Louise was just tenths off making the final 12, not a bad result considering the depth of the field.

Brooke’s result now moves her into fifth place in the championship, just 19 points off third placed Rohan Smith, and within shot of the championship points leaders who have shown already this year that they’re susceptible to pressure. It’s game on..!

For the True Blue team the focus now switches to the fourth round of the Continental Tyres Australian Superboat Championships at Maryborough in Queensland on September 4-5, followed by the final round of the championship at Hi-Tec Oils Superpark at Temora on October 30-31.

True Blue Racing are proudly supported by; Auspro Logistics, Hi-Tec Oils, Temora Superboats (Hi-Tec Oils Superpark), Parish Automotive, MoTeC, Sprintec, Lake Eildon Marina & House Boat Hire, Alexandra Freighters, Mansfield Express, Symes Transport, Action Smash Repairs (Wangaratta), North-East Windscreens, 321Ignition Magazine, Powerbond Pulleys and Speedflow.

2010 Continental Tyres Australian Superboat Championships

International Group A (points after round#3 – Top 20)
1. Darek Sygidus (152 points), 2. Ted Sygidus (148), 3. Rohan Smith (141), 4. Robert Colman (127), 5. Brooke Dixon/Kelly Champness (122), 6. Daniel Walton (120), 7. Jake Garlick (106), 8. Mark Garlick (96), 9. Damian O’Leary (93), 10. Brooke Lucas (79), 11. Mick Manini (64), 12. Rodney Krause (58), 13. Tremayne Jukes (51), 14. Greg Harriman (47), 15. Louise Dixon/Casey Lack (36), 16. Kevin Laugesen (30), 17. Chris Bollins (30), 18. Shane Loughnan (25), 19. Kieran Krause (23), 20. Tony Whalan (20)

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