Minda Motorsport

The National Formula Ford Championship headed to Australia’s most southern state, Tasmania, for it’s 3^rd round on the last weekend of May. MMS drivers Ben Walter, Jesse Dixon and Nick McBride all headed down with justified confidence after their great outings so far in 2009.

Practice 1 was an extreme highlight of the weekend with rookie driver and future star, Jesse Dixon, setting the pace. It was Jesse’s first time to lead the time sheet and in only his fifth race meeting. To be fastest at a National FF round is an amazing effort and we're sure it won’t be the last time he will do so.

The short Tasmanian track is renowned for it’s need for great track position and getting a tow to snare a good time. Ben Walter was the teams best qualifier with 7^th , Jesse Dixon 11^th, and fellow rookie Nick McBride 12^th, all acknowledging after the session that they failed to make the most of the all important tow and tyre gain, but were all happy that the races would be different.

Race 1 was a fantastic display of FF racing with the top ten all very close and six drivers in this ten all going under the lap record. Ben Walter had a great run in the lead group finishing 5^th, with only 2 seconds separating 2^nd to 5^th , which highlights the competitiveness of this years field. Also in this lead group was Jesse Dixon, however he had a coming together at the 1^st gear hairpin resulting in a DNF. Nick McBride again had a strong run, finishing a fine 10^th after a race long battle with experienced Luke Ellery, who is now a Cams Rising Star member.

Race 2 was again a fine display of close and clean racing with Ben Walter in the lead group, in fact 5 drivers again went under the lap record including Ben who was 3^rd fastest and finished a fighting 5^th. Nick McBride had another top 10 result showing again in his rookie year he keeps on improving. Jesse Dixon had to fight his way up to 13h from rear of the grid after his DNF in Race 1 and this mature and clean drive again showed us that he is also making great leaps forward in his quest to be a race winner.

Race 3 was one to forget for Ben Walter, after a strong run in Races 1 & 2 he was again in to the lead group hoping to better his 5^th from Race 1, but unfortunately he misjudged his braking into the hairpin and had to run wide, resulting in a heavy impact with a fellow competitor and the guard rail and an instant DNF. Nick McBride again showed us his maturity by being able to run with a lot more experienced drivers, and considering Nick and Jesse are the only two drivers on P plates in this years competitive field, his 10^th position was another fantastic result. Jesse Dixon had a race long battle as well, and drove to his game plan finishing a mighty fine 13^th.

The whole team at MMS are very proud of Jesse, Nick and Ben’s pace and we all look forward to round 4 at Darwin. The team is looking to transfer this pace into some strong results.

#10 Jesse Dixon                            #25 Ben Walter                           #74 Nick McBride

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