Determined Leitch heads for third round of US Formula 4

After a tough initiation in the Formula 4 United States Championship, New Zealand race driver Brendon Leitch arrives in Canada today confident of showing good form in the third round.

The 21-year-old from Invercargill is looking to gain a speed advantage with the addition of a race engineer he already knows well and the arrival of a team-mate.

To date he has been a lone entry for Kiwi Motorsports, a one-car all-Kiwi team, and knows this can be a disadvantage in terms of developing competitive pace because car set-ups can’t then be shared between team-mates.

The team now adds a second car for 20 year old Dakota Dickerson of San Diego, who comes across from the American F2000 series. From this round forward, Leitch will have a further technical asset, having snared young Kiwi David Versalko to help engineer the car.

“”We have had some car issues so far and it’s very hard to be consistently fast when you are a one-car operation because there’s no way to share data to improve lap times. I’m excited to work with David again, we share a strong background in New Zealand’s Toyota Racing Series and he’s well respected,” said Leitch.

In addition, the team now adds a second car for 20 year old Dakota Dickerson of San Diego, who comes across from the American F2000 series.

“There’s strong interest in Formula 4 this year, the grids in the US and abroad are full of rising racers who are looking for an affordable step up. I’m looking forward to working with Dakota,” said Leitch.

He will be racing at the very fast 4.08 km Mosport circuit in Bowmanville, Ontario. Familiarity with the circuits contested has been hard-won for one of the championship’s handful of fly-in, fly-out internationals, but Leitch says most of his rivals are in the same situation.

“It’s a 30-plus grid which is very challenging, and America’s size means everyone is flying in from somewhere else. We’ve been making big strides forward so far and there’s more speed to come. Formula 4 is more competitive than ever and we’ve been the only one-car team in the top ten so having a team-mate looks likely to help us get a lot faster in a short time,” he said.

Though he has not raced on the Mosport circuit yet, Leitch has spent plenty of time learning its sweeping corners and fast straights on a race simulator.

“Turns one and two look likely to be pretty much flat out and there’s that massive straight with a wee kink in it, a very fast circuit – and I love the fast ones!”

Leitch’s Kiwi Motorsports team is managed by Nelson’s Garry Orton, director of Nelson-based Victory Motor Racing who ran all four of Leitch’s Toyota Racing Series campaigns. Leitch says the team has come together smoothly in just two rounds and he’s confident of a good showing this weekend.