Fast customers: Brooke Dixon with her jet boat and go-kart racer Kris Trotter in Geelong.
JOHN VAN KLAVEREN
BROOKE Dixon comes across as a demure 23-year-old more at home in a bargain shoe sale.
But put her in a V8 jet boat and she changes into a competitive driver who beats most of the men at their own game.
“I’m the only female, so I race against all the men. They don’t like being beaten by a girl,” Brooke admitted.
Brooke was in Geelong this week for two trade nights at M and R Distributors, which stocks the products of her sponsor, Hi Tec Oils.
Brooke said she relied on sponsorship because the jet boat season had no prize money.
“We do it for the love of it,” she said.
One of the youngest drivers on the jet boat racing circuit, Brooke said she was ranked number two in the world.
She conceded having a world standing higher than her Australian ranking of three might seem odd.
“I came second in the world championships in 2009 and hold that title until the next worlds in New Zealand next year.
“I came third in the Australian championships and after something like 48 races I missed the title by three points, or just on three tenths of a second.”
For the technically minded, Brooke runs a 14-foot aluminium hulled Sprintec hull powered by a 412 cubic inch Chevrolet engine producing 700 horsepower through an 8.25 inch Scott jet unit.
Her jet boat accelerates to 100km/h in just over two seconds and turns at up to 5G, a force rarely felt outside aircraft.
“My first introduction to jet boats was at 15 when I first jumped into the navigator’s seat of a friend’s boat.
“My parents were both heavily involved in the sport and after a season dad decided it was time that I try driving and I haven’t been out of that side of the boat since.”
Brooke put her success down to a smooth driving style, countering the all-out aggressiveness of her male counterparts.
“My style eliminates some of the risks and with consistency in each race, it gets me up in the points.”
Brooke said jet boats raced the clock around waist-deep, man-made water courses.
She aimed to win the Australian championships in 2012.
