Youthful partnership to front Shannons Bathurst 1000 attack
Jesse Dixon shares driving with Cameron Waters in Shannons carsales.com.au V8 SupercarTwo drivers aged under 20 will pilot Kelly Racing’s Shannons carsales.com.au racing V8 Supercar at this year’s Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 at Mount Panorama this weekend.
This follows the announcement of 19 year-old Jesse Dixon as winner of the 2012 Shannons Supercar Showdown TV series, an 11-week programme designed to identify and develop budding motor racing talent that offers the carrot of a Bathurst 1000 co-driver’s seat in a Kelly Racing-prepared Commodore as a virtually irresistible incentive.
Jesse Dixon will join last year’s Supercar Showdown winner Cameron Waters – who replaced the show’s host Grant Denyer as number one driver after Denyer was forced to withdraw as a result of ongoing back problems. This year’s Bathurst 1000 will be a second for Waters – the 2011 Shannons Supercar Showdown series winner also raced last year as Denyer’s co-driver.
His co-driver Jesse Dixon came home ahead of 11 rookies from Australia, New Zealand and America competing over 11 weeks in the TV series to secure his Bathurst 1000 drive. The final stage of the challenge was a “fastest time wins” lap of Victoria’s Winton racetrack where Dixon narrowly beat Victorian Glen Wood and New Zealander Andre Heimgartner.
Dixon, who started his racing career driving go karts at the age of 13, was overjoyed by his series win: “Words cannot describe the emotions; I’ve won! I’m just over the moon. Bathurst, it’s a dream come true. I’ve been dreaming about racing Bathurst ever since I was a kid.”
Jesse Dixon’s win followed a sad period in his life. Following the death of his father six years ago, he started kart racing with a lot of encouragement and support from his mother.
“Towards the end of his illness my mum told me that she would help me get in to karting and after months and months of just no positivity, it put a smile on my face” he said.
The 2012 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 to be held on October 7 will be the climax of four days celebrating the event’s 50th anniversary and you can follow all the action this weekend at www.motoring.com.au and on Facebook and Twitter.
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