Interesting, I actually wasn't doing that when I got my highest score for the course (56,000), though I'm not sure if I wasn't doing it because I didn't think it was possible, or because I'd worked out that the alternative yielded better results. For what it's worth, the "alternative" approach that I used was:
- Don't free the Ideya (or break the chip cages) on the first lap.
- On the second lap, free the Ideya. (You should always have 20 blue chips by this stage.)
- On either the second, third or fourth laps, duck down and break the two chip cages when you enter the underwater bit (you'll get a nice amount of points for them as you'll be in bonus time).
- Do a full four laps.
Of course that means that I was in less of a frantic rush to fit in the full four laps, which might have meant that I benefited because I had time to collect items more carefully. Also, I think the large link score from breaking the two chip cages in bonus time might have counteracted the bonus points I "lost" by freeing the Ideya on the second lap instead of the first, but I'm not certain.
Hmm, I'll have to compare the two methods at some point, see which one milks the most points...