MMS had a good Friday practice in preparation for the weekend with all drivers gaining valuable knowledge and set up and preparation from the Friday Sessions.
Qualifying
Held in wet conditions, with a drying line the MMS team had to make a call on set up and chose well with Jon Miles qualifying a fine second, Steve Cadden 3rd outright in his pursuit of Pre 96 success, Andrew McInnes second in his Historic Lola in the pre 96 class and Doug Williams 5th. In the Duratec class Matt Brabham did an excellent job in his first race meeting at Phillip Island with 6th with less than a second to pole. Brendan Jones was a great 8th in his Duratec debut. In the Sports Cars, both Jan and Dean did a great job in trying conditions to be in the top 10.
RACE 1
In the FF1600 event Jon Miles did the best job possible in his title chase, by winning it by an impressive 15 seconds ahead of title rival Jesse Fenech, Steve Cadden was a very impressive 3rd outright and the winner in the pre 96 class. Matt Brabham had a fine run in the Duratec class, starting in 6th he drove a mighty race to finish 2nd, behind experienced CRS driver Luke Ellery.
In the Sports Car Class, Minda again finished in the results with new team member Jan Jinadasa, finishing an impressive 3rd and Dean 4th. This 4th position was later to be stripped from him for a tyre rule infringement.
RACE2
Race 2 was the turning point in the championship for Jon Miles, while again leading Jon made a mistake at Honda and slid off into the grass and tyre wall, this DNF was to put an end to his title hopes. Steve Cadden again showed his stuff by finishing 2nd outright and this was also stripped as his car was found to be 1kg under weight on post race scrutiny. "Oh well, it was a great race anyway", said Cadden. Andrew McInnes was 4th outright in his Lola. Matt Brabham again impressed in his Kanga Batman Tafe 011D Spectrum, running as high as 3rd and a small off road excursion on the rain soaked track cost him, but he again put his head down and made a great recovery to finish 4th. Brendan Jones brought is Spectrum 011 home in a steady 7th.
In the Sports Cars again Jan Jinadasa showed his true speed with another podium with 3rd. Dean Koutsoumidis made a fine recovery from the Race 1 exclusion to finish 7th, keeping his title hopes alive. With nothing to lose, Jon Miles put his head down and drove like a demon, in a damp race he came from the rear of grid to take a race win in the main point score race.
RACE 3
Jon's pace was some 1.5 sec faster than his title rival, but his win was not enough to clinch the championship, his Race 2 DNF put paid to that, and he fell just short. "It's my fault, I stuffed it in race 2" stated Jon Miles, "Oh well at least we showed this weekend we had plenty of pace". Steve Cadden was again impressive steaming from rear of grid also to finish 3rd and in the process claiming the pre 96 Championship "I'm looking forward to my 500 bucks", was Steve's response to his first championship. The sleeper for the weekend was definitely pre 96 champ Doug Williams who with good and consistent drives, came through to finish 3rd in this years pre 96 class, two years in a row for Doug on the championship podium.
In the FF Duratec Class, Matt Brabham again showed fine form, he finished 2nd, in a field of more expert racers. In his second race meeting he came away with a 2nd for the round. "It's a good feeling; I'm looking forward to next year. The team did a great job this weekend in trying conditions" said the 3rd generation racer. Brendan Jones also had a steady run in Race 3 and came home 8th, "I'm glad I bought it home in one piece, it's very different to the 1600 car" commented Jones.
In the Sports Cars, the team took an each way bet in the trying weather by using wets on Dean Koutsoumidis car and slicks on Jan's. The result was a 5th and 6th, Jan had a steady start and as the track dried he found his feet and pace, setting fastest lap and steaming into 3rd for the round, "Great run this weekend, good result for my first run with MMS" stated Jan. Dean had a long battle with fellow GT3 drivers Peter Fountas and Fraser Kirchner, and in his hotted up road car, versus purpose built race cars, came out on top to finish 6th. This was enough to take out the final spot on the podium for the 2009 Championship. "Great, if we had kept our Race 2 points we would be 2nd for the year, the team did a great job all year and I'm very happy" commented Koutsoumidis.
All in all MMS have had a great 2009 State Championship, leading in all categories it's entered in. "It's been a busy year and I'm happy. It would have been nice to clock up the 1600 Championship, but we showed we had a fast car, and that means something" said team principal Bruin Beasley in the wash up of the weekend.
In other news for the round, MMS apprentice Jack LeBrocq finished 2nd for the year in the Formula Vee 1600 Championship. His Race 3 effort with a 27 second win in the damp was the highlight, "That has to be a world record. To win by that margin in Formula Vee race is unheard of, I hope this result show's Jack's talent." commented Bruin Beasley after the race.
