Young Guns II

On the back of Jesse Dixon’s helmet is a photo and dedication to his late father, who passed away 10 years ago when Dixon was only 10. The pair had dreamed of motorsport glory together and at the Bathurst 1000 Dixon had a small, sweet taste of that glory.

The winner of car racing reality TV show, the 2012 Shannons Supercar Showdown, finished 20th in his first V8 Supercar race, which also happens to be the biggest event of the year at the most fearsome racetrack in the country.

He didn’t crash, he didn’t spin, he played it cool, and his times were generally within a few tenths of his younger but more experienced (in V8s) teammate and 2011 Shannons Showdown winner, 18-year-old Cam Waters.

With a combined age of 38, they were the youngest pairing ever to start the race.

The Bathurst 1000 was only Dixon’s sixth race in two years, which further underlined the maturity of his drive. This year he has done the odd race in the V8 Ute series but with no money behind him he’s hoping his Bathurst performance will lead to bigger things.

motoring.com.au was with Dixon from the moment he left Melbourne in a motorhome bound for Bathurst until he received his competitor’s medal after the race. And, just as we did last year with Waters, we were there every time he got out of the car.

Dixon had been a spectator before but had never even done a road-car lap of Mount Panorama or raced there in a junior formula. He had logged plenty of virtual miles on computer simulators but the real thing is, well, a damn sight more real.

The morning of his first practice stint he was able to hitch a ride with a Channel 7 broadcast van and its driver let him steer for two laps – at 40km/h – at dusk. In the race his Commodore would be hitting over 290km/h on Conrod Straight…

Waters was first out in Thursday’s first practice session but was soon back in the pits complaining that the steering was sticking in corners and he survived a tank-slapper when the steering locked and the rear end stepped out. It was “not fun” he said, grimly.

“Every time I loaded the front of the car up, or in the major braking zones, I couldn’t turn it. One time it went real sideways. It was real unpredictable to drive.”

His best time to that stage was a 2:13.99sec – the quick guys were in the 2:08s. Dixon could only bide his time. If he was nervous it didn’t show.

The Minda Motorsports crew (seconded by Kelly Racing) under Bruin Beasley and former Kelly Racing engineer Barry Ryan (who was drafted in for the race) got to work and replaced the power steering pump. It didn’t totally cure the problem but it was deemed safe.

Dixon went out in the second session – with no idea whether the steering would be okay – and the sweaty, wide-eyed excitement on his face after this first stint was worth bottling as he gave us a big double thumbs-up.

“What a track, what a track!” Dixon beamed. “I felt pretty calm and just tried to block out the fact that I am debuting in V8 Supercars and focus on my own job. From Reid Park, McPhillamy, to Skyline – the peak of The Mountain – is one crazy bit of racetrack. And Conrod is by far the fastest I’ve ever gone.”

Dixon’s quickest lap was a 2:14.22 but engineer Ryan said it would have been a high ‘13 because he had backed off on Conrod Straight to let faster drivers through. Warren Luff was quickest with a 2:09.17.

Dixon’s times were similar in the third session but Waters logged a 2:12.00, even though he was still unhappy with the steering. “To get a ’12-dead was okay,” he said. “If we fix the steering I should go heaps quicker.”

Dixon pushed a little harder, feeling his way, but said he didn’t get “any part of the track right yet”. Favourite part of the track? “Between turn one and the last corner.”

Friday is qualifying day and in the morning practice session Cam found more speed, lowering his time to a 2:10.79 on new tyres. With more experience and quicker lap times he’s selected to qualify the Shannons/carsales Commodore.

A “fluffy” engine slightly hinders Waters and he qualifies 29th (last). He thought he could have gone quicker but he still did his quickest lap (2:10.48) and brought the car home in one piece. Meanwhile, the two young guns watch current V8 Supercar master, Jamie Whincup, go quickest with a 2:07.71.

Saturday morning’s final practice session went well, both young guns lapping with full fuel loads to simulate race conditions. The good news for Waters, who had continued to notice the steering fault, was that it was fixed. “The car’s pretty easy to drive and I was doing low '11s easily. I’m just looking forward to the race now, I’m happy,” he said.

The top 10 shootout to decide pole position produces a breathtaking result with Whincup failing to better Will Davison’s time by fractions of a second.

Sunday morning dawns sunny and clear – perfect racing weather – and fans stream into the track from before first light. The Shannons/carsales crew does final safety checks and Waters and Dixon go out for their last pre-race laps in the short morning warm-up session.

Then follows the usual race hoopla: jets screeching overhead, country star Lee Kernaghan twanging his way through the national anthem, pretty girls in skin-tight Lycra, and the grid walk for those lucky enough to have the right pass.

It seems a long way from pole position to the last row of the grid where the bright green Waters/Dixon car is parked. Dixon has never done a full-tanks race start so Waters straps in, the grid clears and the cars set off on the warm-up lap. The circuit is packed with a record crowd.

When the red light goes out and 18,000-odd horsepower is unleashed on Mount Panorama, the place erupts. Waters makes a steady start and blasts up Mountain Straight, his windscreen full of brawling V8 Supercars.

From then on things run eerily to plan for the one-car Shannons/carsales team, apart from the pit-to-car radio packing up, and both drivers run to a pre-determined pace.

After his first race stint, Dixon’s eyes are again like dinner plates and you can’t wipe the grin off his face. “It’s pretty crazy out there,” he marvelled. “I’m just trying to stay out of everyone’s way. I made no real mistakes and got into a rhythm and was feeling comfortable in the car.”

Apart from going three laps down, the race proves uneventful for the young drivers, who do a professional job, sticking to race plans and keeping the car in one piece. Finishing was always the goal.

Whincup’s Holden just pips David Reynolds’ Ford to win the Bathurst 1000, and Waters (who did a double stint to the end of the race) and Dixon finish an excellent 20th in front of some of the biggest teams in the land. Mission accomplished.

“For the last 20 laps I just tried to hit all my marks and make sure I didn’t make any mistakes,” said Waters, who didn’t finish last year’s Great Race. “I had an issue with the rear end, I think something had come loose and I had to nurse it, but it was awesome to finish 20th.

“Jesse was awesome all weekend and every session we just stepped it up a little more. We probably got more than we expected from the race.”

Dixon was just as pumped

“We just followed our plan,” he said. “Top 20, youngest ever finishing pairing – I’m overwhelmed, I can’t believe it. Six months ago I was just a young kid racing utes and now I’m a Bathurst finisher.

“This is for my dad. I think he was on the mountain somewhere helping us out.”