Queensland brother and sister Scott Bettes and Kelly Corbett were part of an Australian-first at Sydney Dragway’s Australian Nationals when they lined up against each other in the final for the Modified bracket at the weekend (1-3 November 2013).
It is believed that it is the first time a brother and sister have competed against each other in a final round at a national event in the senior ranks.
While Camira’s Corbett had the advantage of winning experience as a former National Champion and multiple national event winner, it was Regent Park’s Bettes who broke through at Sydney Dragway on Sunday 3 November to claim his first national event win, just two weeks after claiming his first ever event win at his home-track Willowbank Raceway.
“This is just an amazing feeling, it is pretty surreal actually,” said Bettes, who will celebrate his 33rd birthday on Friday 8 November.
“To take this national event win and claim my first ever gold Christmas tree trophy just two weeks after breaking through for my first Modified event win after four years in this bracket is just amazing – what a great early birthday present!
“It was really special having Kelly beside me for that final, they say that you have to run your own race and not focus on who is in the other lane but of course I knew she was there and it added a bit of pressure.
“You always want your family to do well, but in this case there is no hiding I am pretty happy with how things panned out!” laughed Bettes, whose win this weekend saw him collect a prestigious ‘gold Christmas tree’ trophy for the first time in a 20 year drag racing career despite multiple wins in the Junior Dragster bracket which at the time were not considered championship events.
“In all seriousness though, it was really awesome to have her there beside me as I got my first national event win and I am really thankful for her support as well as the support of my mum Jenny and dad Steve, my Uncle Ashley and of course our crew and our sponsors Castrol, Sidchrome and Noonan Race Engineering – I couldn’t have done this without all of their support and I can’t wait to get back on track next year!”
For Corbett, who also competes regularly in the Sport Compact category in the Jett Racing Datsun ute, it was a case of mixed emotions following the final round of the season-ending Australian Nationals.
“It was so very special to be part of Scott’s first national event win, I am obviously so very happy for him to have won himself a gold Christmas tree and to be able to claim that national event win as his own,” said Corbett, the 2009/2010 National Modified Champion and holder of multiple national event and local event wins.
“At the same time, I was really disappointed about red-lighting by one thousandth of a second – but that is racing and looking at the data even if I had pulled a perfect reaction time I think it would have been hard to beat him with how the conditions were and how he was running.
“The overarching emotion is definitely one of pride in my brother, I am so pleased to be able to congratulate him on his win and welcome him to the ‘Christmas tree’ club – we always have fun racing as a family and I am sure there will be plenty more fun times to come.
“I must also send my thanks to the rest of my family and my friends who crewed for me during the Australian Nationals and also to my sponsors Castrol, Sidchrome, Noonan Race Engineering, Speedflow and Performance Wholesale.”
Finals photo by Fred Dwyer
