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[BOATS] Dixon on top at Cabarita
by Sean Henshelwood
(Archived)
Dixon sets stunning pace on day one
Rnd#4 2009 Continental Tyres Australian Superboat Championships
Round Mountain Road, Cabarita Beach, NSW
6 June, 2009
Reigning Unlimited Superboat champion Phil Dixon set a stunning pace during day one of the fourth round of the Continental Tyres Australian Superboat Championships, the ‘True Blue’ pilot the only driver to post a sub-40 second lap time on a track where many expected the Group A boats to be faster.
"We’re pretty happy with that," Phil admitted at the close of the days competition, "but it cost me a grille, some fins and a damaged impellor because we were running just that close to the bank.. The sun was also an issue in the second run, you ran blind on a couple of occasions and that probably contributed..
"It’s an interesting layout," New Zealand’s Daryl Hutton added, "it’s a technical layout and clearly designed to close the gap in the horsepower stakes because it really wouldn’t matter what you have around here, in fact I’m pretty happy because it will even things up for us as well."
Adding weight to his comment was his pace, Hutton second fastest in the Unlimited class, but still eight tenths slower than Dixon.
The big surprise though at the close of the two opening qualifiers was the pace of the seasons two race winners, ‘Excalibur’ duo Tony Giustozzi and Mick Carroll.
Giustozzi was a second and a half off the pace whilst Carroll was unable to break a 54, slower than the conservative Andrew Page in Rob Colman’s Tunna-Guts.
It was a surprise appearance for Page in something other than his own boat, the likeable Mildura native expecting to make a start in Dean Finch’s ‘Loose Cannon’ but a delay with the transport of vital engine parts for the new twin-turbo Chev kept Finch from making the engine’s much-anticipated debut. "He’s devastated," Page admitted. "My boat is waiting on parts for the jet unit so it was out, and as we’d planned to be here anyway, I came with Rob to help him, but he suggested I run his boat anyway.."
With Nathan Pretty sitting out the Cabarita round, the way was clear for Group A arch-rival Slade Stanley to take maximum points. Such is the talent of the former world champion, that few people aside from Pretty are in his league; he proved that again today with a best of 40.080, over six tenths clear of former national champion Rohan Smith (who actually set the top time in the opening qualifying round), the pair the only drivers to break into the 40s.
Reigning AUS#2 Greg Mercier set the third fastest time in the opening session, but it came at a cost, Az U Do suffering a broken pushrod and subsequent valve damage in the closing stages of the lap, a post-race inspection revealing terminal damage.
"We’ll have to have a good look at it and see what we can do," Mercier admitted. "For now Slade [Stanley] has offered me the ‘B’ drive in ‘Hazardous’ so it keeps our chances alive, but it’s a real pity, we were looking pretty good.
Fourth fastest in Group A was the ever-improving Rob Colman on a track that two years ago all but destroyed him and his boat. Fifth was round two winner Brooke Dixon, with Ted Sygidus close behind and Wagga’s Rodney Krause seventh.
After some serious modifications to his boat, AFJSA President Greg Harriman was eleventh and more than happy with the performance of ‘321Ignition’; "This is the nicest the boat has ever been, I’m really pumped for a great weekend." Sadly it was a less than auspicious start to his weekend after issues with the starter motor kept him from opening qualifying, however once sorted it was clear the boat was a major improvement over previous rounds.
Tremayne Jukes was ninth at the close of day one, the Stingray boats manufacturer now campaigning ‘Conti-Racer’ alongside Griffith’s 350 Class runner-up Chris Bollins announced himself happy with the boats performance, but admitted to a number of minor issues they would work on as the weekend progressed.
"This is really all just working towards the world championships," TJ confirmed. "It’s just little things we need to fine tune, things like turning a lap where you were coming back into a path you’d just run and you were seeing exhaust smoke; that was down to a fraction too much oil in the engine, but it does play on your mind. We’ll sort it though, and when we do it will be awesome."
Another driver coming to grips with the 400 Class was Superboat debutante Shaun Dixon, the youngest member of the Dixon clan. Driving ‘True Blue Too’ as team-mate to his race-winning sister Brooke, Shaun was playing things cautiously but still managed to take three seconds off his opening qualifying time in Q2.
In the 350 Class it was action aplenty; ‘Evil As’, ‘Predator’ and ‘Which Way’ all striking dramas through the opening sessions, but it was business as usual for Jake Garlick, the teenage sensation again topping the timesheets, his 44.103 putting him four tenths faster than his father Mark and almost two seconds quicker than reigning champion Brooke Lucas.
With the potential for late rain during Sunday’s final qualifiers anything can still happen, the changeable humid conditions forcing plenty of head scratching in the pits as teams tune for optimum performance. Regardless of what transpires though, it’s sure to be another oustanding day of competiton.
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