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[BOATS] True Blue are World Champions!
by Sean Henshelwood
(Archived)
Phil Dixon in full flight at Featherston - pic: Theo Spykers
True Blue leave New Zealand as World Champions!
2008 UIM World Jetsprint Championships – New Zealand
12 January 2009
Phil and Louise Dixon’s True Blue Racing team ended the 2008 jetsprint season in the best way possible, with former International Group A World Series champion Nathan Pretty taking out the 2008 UIM World Championships in New Zealand in early January.
A popular addition to the True Blue ‘family’, Pretty had spent little time in the seat during 2008, despite being the reigning Australian champion in the class.
“I wasn’t sure what to expect to be honest,” the part-time V8 Supercar pilot admitted on returning home to Melbourne with a world title firmly in his grasp. “I’d been out of the seat for a while, and despite winning the series here at home just over 12 months ago, going to New Zealand against the best drivers in the world, was always going to be a big ask.
Whilst some teams contested the opening round of the New Zealand series at Wanganui the week prior to Meremere’s opening world championship round, Pretty and long-time navigator Lincoln Burns remained in Melbourne. Despite his absence, True Blue Too’s regular pilot Brooke Dixon put in a strong display to take top Australian honours, whilst Phil and Louise Dixon completed practice laps by virtue of being the only Australian Superboat team at the event.
For Meremere (pron. merrymerry) though there was a full contingent of both Australian and New Zealand teams, all vying for bragging rights and the coveted world title.
“I knew it would be tough, especially when I heard Peter Briant would be coming out of retirement to campaign a brand new boat,” Pretty admitted. “I’ve always admired his ability in a jetboat, and I knew on his home turf he’d be hard to beat.”
As it was, Nathan was right on the money, both he and Briant going head to head from the opening qualifying round..
“It was like that right through to Sunday where I messed up in the top eight and very nearly went the wrong way,” Pretty confirmed. “That rattled me a little, but I have to thank Lincoln because he got me back on track."
Going into the final two it was Briant versus Pretty, and as the fastest runner of the top four, Briant chose to run last, leaving Nathan to set a time. “And we found half a second to take the win, Peter couldn’t go any quicker..
“I would say that run in particular was the best run I’ve ever had in a jetsprint. We worked so hard at it and the competition was fierce. There were 12-15 boats that were good enough to win that event, so consistency and accuracy were paramount. One slip and it was all over..”
“I was very impressed with Nathan and Lincoln,” team-boss Phil Dixon agreed. “They wanted that win and were really committed to making it happen. They walked the track beforehand a number of times, taped qualifying, reviewed other people’s qualifying runs back at the motel over and over again, and poured through all the data, it was incredible to watch, but set them at a level above most of the others; Peter Caughey was the only other person I saw go to such great lengths, and he all but dominated Superboats.”
For Brooke Dixon, a cautious early start turned into a stunning top 16 run which placed her fourth. Sadly she and navigator Amy Harriman didn’t make the top four after dropping to seventh in the top eight shootout.
“Brooke did a fantastic job,” Pretty said post-event. “She started slowly, but we sat down with her after the qualifiers and went through the data and showed her where she could pick up speed, and she dropped two seconds immediately.”
“It was a great run,” Brooke nodded. “Having Nathan and Lincoln there to help me with the data and some of the race lines was fantastic. It’s also great comfort to have someone pushing your boat harder than you are, because you know then that you can actually push beyond your own limit. I had a great time. The competition from the New Zealanders is pretty tough. They know the circuits and they’re very experienced, so to pull out a top ten was a pretty good result..”
In Superboats at Meremere, newly crowned Australian champion Phil Dixon was in for the ride of his life trying to keep in touch with a driver revered as the ‘best ever’ in a Superboat; four-time world champion Peter Caughey (interestingly, the man who ‘built’ both True Blue Racing Sprintec Superboats).
From opening practice it was clear Caughey was going to do something special, and with fellow Kiwi Richard Burt hot on his tail, he didn’t disappoint. By the close of qualifying, Caughey was circulating in the mid-44s, Phil by contrast was fourth fastest, in the mid-48s!
“Words are not enough to explain how good this guy is,” Phil laughed. “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised, because he’s a professional jetsprint driver, that’s what he does for a living, but to be that far off his pace is just mind-blowing.
Heading into the final eight, Phil dropped the deficit to just on three seconds, and missed the top four shootout by a mere two one hundredths of a second. Caughey though went a second faster again in the final to take the win over local nemesis Richard Burt.
Whilst Phil and navigator Campbell Omay maintained their position as the leading Aussie team, True Blue’s #2, Louise Dixon put in an impressive performance to claim tenth, again maintaining a consistent pace in order to keep the boat together for Phil’s tilt at the title.
“The main aim was to get the boat to the end of the event in one piece and leave it to Phil to go after the big points,” Louise admitted. “There was no need for heroics. It actually took me a little while to get used to the New Zealand circuits because they’re so much wider than what we have at home, but I was right once we’d gotten through to the finals.”
In fact despite increasing her pace with each qualifying round, Louise put in a blinder in her final run to take more than two seconds off her previous best.
With two straight boats and a mountain of data, the team took off for round two at Featherston, just north of Wellington on the North Island of New Zealand.
As had been the case at Meremere just a week prior, Nathan Pretty set a strong early pace in True Blue Too, but was not tested this time by Peter Briant, whose pace had dropped significantly since the first round. “It was a new boat and he’d spent the week between rounds fine-tuning it,” Pretty confirmed. “It clearly didn’t work, so the pressure to some extent was off.”
Instead of a local attack, Pretty and Burns were coming under fire from fellow Australian drivers Slade Stanley and Ted Sygidus. After starting alongside Nathan as a firm favourite for the title, former UIM World Champion Stanley suffered a terminal engine failure in his own boat during the opening round, forcing him into a ‘B’ drive with reigning Australian #2 Greg Mercier in Az-U-Do. After sorting himself in the boat, Stanley claimed second in the points at Meremere and was hoping to go one better at Featherston.
It wasn’t to be, Nathan conducting a trouble-free run throughout the weekend to claim both the round victory, and the world title after defeating Sygidus in the top two shootout with his quickest run of the weekend.
“I’m absolutely rapt,” he grinned afterwards. “This result is testament to the efforts of the whole True Blue team. They prepare an exceptional boat under the guidance of Col Parish, who I’m really sorry wasn’t here (Col makes an annual pilgrimage every year to Marlo (on the East Coast of Victoria) over the Christmas holidays), and we really only just fine-tuned it. We certainly didn’t have the most powerful engine, in fact we had the team’s second engine (after a part failure at Albury put paid to the team’s lead engine), but the whole package is just so well sorted, it’s a delight to drive.
“From my perspective I’d like to thank Phil, Louise and Brooke Dixon for letting me drive their boat, it’s a real honour to be a part of such a great team, and to Lincoln for his direction and support through the weekend. I’d also like to thank Col Parish for getting me into this sport, and for his guidance for many years, right back to the old Thunderdome days.. I have to tell you, of all the things I drive, this would have to rate as one of the best.. Finally I’d like to thank Holden for their ongoing support and loyalty, without them I wouldn’t be half the driver I am now..”
As she had done in Meremere, Brooke Dixon turned in another strong performance at Featherston, going one better to claim seventh, her best lap in the final eight less than half a second off the pace of Australian rivals Ted Sygidus and Slade Stanley.
“I’m absolutely stoked by Nathan’s result,” Phil Dixon beamed post-event, “but I’m also blown away by Brooke’s pace. She was fast and incredibly smooth, she drove brilliantly, and to make the top seven against a field with this much experience just shows how capable she really is in one of these boats.”
“I was really happy with how I went ,” Brooke added. “I thought it was a good effort considering I was racing many drivers with over ten years experience.
“Overall it was pretty exciting with Nathan claiming first in my boat, he thoroughly deserved it. He was also a good role model for me as he helped me immensely throughout the series on my lines and he also helped prepare me psychologically as well.”
By the close of the two rounds, True Blue Too claimed both the world championship win for Nathan Pretty and an impressive eighth placing for Brooke Dixon, whose points haul was just two points shy of fifth place; an impressive performance considering 31 teams were entered for the series.
Whilst Nathan and Brooke enjoyed a stunning run in Group A, Phil and Louise Dixon had their work cut out in Superboats against the might of the front-running New Zealanders.
As was expected, Peter Caughey and Richard Burt kicked off at Featherston the way they had at Meremere, although this time they were joined by Leighton Minnell who had placed just fourth at the opening round.
Heading into the final eight though, Phil Dixon was holding down a position in the top four, just inches short of third placed Burt, but with Australian arch-rivals Tony Giustozzi and Mick Carroll hot on his hammer.
With Caughey setting a stunning pace at the front, Phil crept into the top four with one of his slowest runs of the weekend, but he was unable to make the final two..
“Caughey is the consummate professional,” Phil agreed. “I’m more of a seat of the pants driver, but those guys, much like Nathan and Lincoln, they are committed 100% to winning and eat and breathe it. I’m committed too, but I get a thrill out of seeing everyone having a great time, and the team succeeding; I’m not sure I could find a lazy four seconds..!”
Whilst Phil was rewarded with fourth for the second round, and fourth overall for the series, Louise too managed a strong run, and as she had done at Meremere, took over two seconds off her best in her final run.
“I was really happy with ninth overall,” she admitted afterwards. “I felt I drove really well, especially as there was a much bigger and more competitive field than I’m used to at home; to come ninth out of 16 I was really happy.”
The True Blue Racing team now prepares for the 2009 Australian calendar to kick into gear, with the opening round scheduled for Melton outside of Melbourne on March 6-7 for the opening round of the Australian and Victorian Championships.
True Blue Racing are proudly supported by; Auspro Logistics, Parish Automotive, H2O Full Throttle Magazine, MoTeC, Sprintec, Lake Eildon Marina & House Boat Hire, Alexandra Freighters, Mansfield Express, Symes Transport, North-East Windscreens, Action Smash Repairs (Wangaratta) and SKIN Industries.
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2008 UIM World Jetsprint Championships
Superboat - Championship positions
(after two rounds of two)
1. Peter Caughey (New Zealand – 80 points)
2. Richard Burt (New Zealand – 77)
3. Leighton Minnell (New Zealand - 76)
4. Phil Dixon/Campbell Omay (Australia – 73)
5. Tony Giustozzi (Australia – 69)
5. Duncan Wilson (New Zealand – 69)
7. Pat Dillon (New Zealand – 65)
8. Mick Carroll (Australia – 64)
9. Graeme Mincham (New Zealand – 63)
9. Louise Dixon/Marnie Freckleton (Australia – 63)
11. Peter Freckleton (Australia – 61)
2008 UIM World Jetsprint Championships
International Group A - Championship positions
(after two rounds of two)
1. Nathan Pretty/Lincoln Burns (Australia 80 points)
2. Slade Stanley (Australia - 75)
3. Peter Briant (New Zealand - 74)
4. Bevan Muir (New Zealand - 73)
5. Ted Sygidus (Australia - 69)
5. Rex Briant (New Zealand - 69)
7. Reg Smith (New Zealand - 68)
8. Brooke Dixon/Amy Harriman (Australia - 67)
9. Simon Campbell (New Zealand - 62)
10. Shane Wood (New Zealand - 59)
10. Greg Mercier (Australia - 59)
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2008 UIM World Jetsprint Championships
Superboats (Rnd#2, Featherston, NZ – January 10-11, 2009)
1. Peter Caughey (New Zealand) – best 45.520
2. Leighton Minnell (New Zealand) – best 47.180
3. Richard Burt (New Zealand) – best 46.936
4. Phil Dixon/Campbell Omay (Australia) – best 49.233
5. Mick Carroll (Australia) – best 49.293
6. Tony Giustozzi (Australia) – best 49.730
7. Ray Ferguson (New Zealand) – best 49.359
7. Graeme Mincham (New Zealand) – best 50.540
9. Louise Dixon/Marnie Freckleton (Australia) – best 52.159
10. Duncan Wilson (New Zealand) – best 49.686
2008 UIM World Jetsprint Championships
International Group A (Rnd#2, Featherston, NZ – January 10-11, 2009)
1. Nathan Pretty/Lincoln Burns (Australia) – best 50.307
2. Ted Sygidus (Australia) – best 51.128
3. Rex Briant (New Zealand) – best 51.185
4. Slade Stanley (Australia) – best 51.307
5. Bevan Muir (New Zealand) – best 51.510
6. Peter Briant (New Zealand) – best 51.947
7. Brooke Dixon/Amy Harriman (Australia) – best 51.979
8. Reg Smith (New Zealand) – best 52.078
9. Greg Mercier (Australia) – best 52.608
10. Dean Allen (New Zealand) – best 52.700
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2008 UIM World Jetsprint Championships
Superboats (Rnd#1, Meremere, NZ – January 3-4, 2009)
1. Peter Caughey (New Zealand) – best: 43.758 – (40 points)
2. Richard Burt (New Zealand) – best 44.339 – (39 points)
3. Duncan Wilson (New Zealand) – best 46.118 – (38 points)
4. Leighton Minnell (New Zealand) – best 47.861 – (37 points)
5. Phil Dixon/Campbell Omay (Australia) – best 47.881 – (36 points)
6. Pat Dillon (New Zealand) – best 48.538 – (35 points)
7. Tony Giustozzi (Australia) – best 49.012 – (34 points)
8. Phonsy Mullan (Australia) – best 49.886 – (33 points)
9. Peter Freckleton (Australia) – best 52.599 – (32 points)
10. Louise Dixon/Marnie Freckleton (Australia) – best 52.977 – (31 points)
International Group A
(Rnd#1, Meremere, NZ – January 3-4, 2009)
1. Nathan Pretty/Lincoln Burns (Australia) – best 48.517 – (40 points)
2. Peter Briant (New Zealand) – best 48.832 – (39 points)
3. Slade Stanley (Australia) – best 49.664 – (38 points)
4. Bevan Muir (New Zealand) – best 49.526 – (37 points)
5. Shane Wood (New Zealand) – best 50.772 – (36 points)
6. Reg Smith (New Zealand) – best 50.704 – (35 points)
7. Simon Campbell (New Zealand) – best 51.158 – (34 points)
8. Brooke Dixon/Amy Harriman (Australia) – best 50.381 – (33 points)
9. Garry Smith (New Zealand) – best 50.914 – (32 points)
10. Rex Briant (New Zealand) – best 51.772 – (31 points)
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