Darren Morgan Racing

Darren Morgan Racing is preparing to make an historic appearance at Calder Park this Saturday, with the Fuchs Shootout representing the first time that competitive Top Fuel racing will be showcased in Melbourne in over 10 years.

Whilst not an ANDRA Pro Series sanctioned event, it is potentially the most important drag racing event in Australia in the last 15 years. The governing body has made no secret of the fact it wants to be racing in Melbourne again and Morgan considers this event the ‘olive branch’ the sport has been looking for – hence his participation.

The Calder Park event will be conducted over the 300m (1000ft) distance, which is the standard for NHRA Top Fuel racing in America and has recently become eligible for Pro Series racing in Australia.

During the event Darren Morgan Racing and their primary sponsor – AEG Powertools will give lucky fans the chance to win – not only tools and other items, but a money-can’t-buy experience in standing on the startline as the Mildura Missile leaves the line in his 8,000 horsepower dragster! The AEG promotion will be running all day at the Darren Morgan Racing pit area, adjacent to the thunderdome.

Morgan also welcomes a new associate partner in renowned Australian company, Lovells Springs. Lovells has been providing Australians with the ride of their life since 1930 and Mike Davison – Sales and Marketing Manager at Lovells paid tribute to Morgan and his continual push to be the best presented Top Fuel team in the country:

“Lovells are proud to be once again associated with Darren Morgan and his team,” said Davison. “From our experience, Darren is the most tenacious and professional Top Fuel pilot in the country.”

Prior to the historic moment at Calder, Morgan and several other Drag Racing teams will be doing a display in Bendigo to promote the event. The display will take place between 12:00pm and 4:00pm THIS Wednesday in the Hargreaves Mall in Bendigo. Fans will be able to get up close and personal with the car and team, Darren and other drivers will be on hand to hand out posters and sign autographs.

Tickets for the Fuchs Shootout are available through Ticketmaster.com.au.

Darren Morgan Racing is proudly supported by AEG Powertools, Shannon’s Insurance and Kennard’s Hire as well as their many associate partners.

Following on from the Fuchs Shootout, Morgan and the AEG team will be present at the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide, March 1-4, for a busy weekend. They will be operating the team’s Top Fuel Simulator, performing startups and will be doing burnouts on the track on Friday and Saturday.

In a further boost to Adelaide fans, the ANDRA Pro Series will return to the City of Churches with Top Fuel the key attraction between April 13-15 at Adelaide International Raceway.

MISSILE’S QUOTEBOARD
“We’re absolutely ecstatic to be racing at Calder again,” said Morgan. “It’s an historic day for the sport and I think it’s going to be the platform that the sport needs to come back to Melbourne with an ANDRA Pro Series event. Melbourne’s one of the biggest markets in the country and many of our sponsors are based there, so it would make sense that we’re able to race in front of them.

“We’re expecting a huge crowd to come out and support drag racing in Melbourne. There’s a top field so the entertainment will be world class and many spectators will never have felt side-by-side Top Fuel passes before, so they are in for a real treat.

“Our team is pleased to unveil Lovells Springs as a new partner. They too have a big presence in Melbourne, so it will be good to fly the flag for them at Calder.

“First though, we’ll have our car on display up at Bendigo on Wednesday. AEG Powertools will be giving away plenty of cool prizes, the coolest of which is that we’ll give someone the opportunity to stand on the startline with the team.

“There’s nothing you can compare it to – I’m glad I’m in the car during the launch, because standing on the startline terrifies me!”

Darren Morgan’s defence of the ANDRA Pro Series Top Fuel Championship is back on track after a runner up performance in the third round at the Perth Motorplex.

Aside from the 50% bonus points that all competitors received for traveling to the Western capital, Morgan received additional points for the quickest time established during the course of the meeting and the quickest speed – both set in Friday night’s qualifier with his 4.749 second run at a speed of 504.659 kilometres per hour (313.58mph).

The top qualification gave the Mildura Missile a bye run for the first round before coming up against last round winner, Damien Harris. Despite the team being forced to fix a broken fuel pump lever as Morgan approached the staging lanes, he was able to get around Harris in a phenomenal drag race – recording a 4.84 second pass to Harris’ 4.85.

This set the Mildura TAFE teacher on a collision course with relative newcomer to Top Fuel, Mark Sheehan.

The team discovered an issue with the ignition when warming up the AEG Powertools ‘Agent Orange’ machine, which forced them into a situation whereby they didn’t run a retardation box for the Final.

This small issue proved to be decisive in the overall scheme of the Final – Sheehan had no such trouble and took the win with a 4.95 second pass to Morgan’s 5.05.

Track conditions over the weekend were difficult for the team to get a handle on – given the temperature hovered around 40 degrees Celsius. This forced track staff to take the unprecedented step of actually ‘watering’ the track before qualifying on Friday in an effort to produce conditions conducive to quick times for the 8000 horsepower Top Fuel dragsters.

Overall though, Morgan reports the progress made with the car across the weekend has been outstanding.

It sets the team up well for it’s next outing – the Fuchs APSA Shootout at Calder Park Raceway in Melbourne on February 18. The historic return to Calder takes on additional significance with the announcement of the ANDRA Pro Series round to be conducted in Adelaide in March, as both events will be run over the 300 metre (1000 foot) distance.

The team will also be performing startups at the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide in March across the weekend of March 1-4.

Fans are reminded that Darren Morgan Racing’s new website is now operational at www.darrenmorgan.com.au.

ANDRA PRO SERIES POINTS – AFTER ROUND THREE:
1. Damien Harris – 312.5
2. Andrew Cowin – 298.5
3. Darren Morgan – 278
4. Phil Lamattina – 243.5
5. Mark Sheehan – 149

FROM THE MISSILE’S CHAMBER:
“We’re incredibly happy to be back in top form, but at the same time disappointed that we didn’t get the final round win,” said Morgan.

“We certainly had the car to get the job done in Perth, but a small problem with the ignition proved to be enough for Mark (Sheehan) to drive around us and win.

“Overall though, the car was faultless and we’ve made even further progress from the last round with it.

“Getting to the final round with the bonus points from the fastest ET (elapsed time) and fastest speed really means a lot for the Championship. We’re third and in striking distance now.

“It will be great to get back to Calder Park. It takes on extra meaning for us with the ANDRA Pro Series round to be held in Adelaide at the end of March as both will be across the shorter distance.

“Whilst the distance makes no real difference to the way in which we set the car up, getting used to tracks that are not one of the ‘big three’ that we have data on is where the difference is. Calder and Adelaide are very similar, so it will be good to lay some laps down in front of a big crowd!”

MORE INFORMATION:
Ben Patterson – Crew Chief
Darren Morgan Racing
Phone: 0419 682 614
Email: ben@darrenmorganracing.com.au

Defending Australian Top Fuel Champion, Darren Morgan has bowed out in the opening round of heats at the second event of the ANDRA Pro Series Championship in Perth.

The Mildura Missile drew Damien Harris in the first round and despite a superior reaction time, Harris was able to get around him with a 4.833 second pass at 299mph to Morgan’s 5.573 at 222.77mph.

Although he was eliminated early, Morgan and the team made significant progress that will serve them well at the back end of the Championship.

Morgan was the fifth fastest qualifier in the field of five that made the trek to Western Australia.

Harris went on to claim victory at the event from Andrew Cowin.

This weekend – Morgan and the DMR Top Fuel Simulator will be in Cairns on behalf of AEG Powertools for a Bunnings Sale Day at Bunnings Cairns. Bunnings is located on the corner of Spence & Fearnley Streets, Bungalow. The team will be performing a startup at the event – allowing Cairns locals to get their Nitro fix!

Morgan’s full racing setup will remain in WA for the next two months until the next ANDRA Pro Series Championship round at the end of January.

The DMR team welcomed a new partner in Hertz Rental Cars on board for the Perth round and moving forward for the remainder of the 2012 season.

MISSILE’S QUOTE BOARD:
“It was disappointing that we didn’t win – however we can take some huge positives out of the weekend – those being that we’ve made some changes to the car and setup-wise they have solved some issues that we’ve been trying to put our finger on for some time.

“At this early stage of the Championship, those discoveries are quite significant and will pay dividends as we go down the line.

“We have a real platform to progress from here.”

More Infortmation
Ben Patterson
Crew Chief
Darren Morgan Racing
Phone: 0419 682 614
Email: ben@darrenmorganracing.com.au

Current Australian Top Fuel Champions, Darren Morgan Racing are heading across to Perth for the first of two ANDRA Pro Series Championship rounds at the Perth Motorplex on December 2-3 with an eye on the double prize.

The multi-million dollar Motorplex has been a happy hunting ground for Team DMR in the past, with The Mildura Missile taking out the Perth event last year – which really set the scene for the Championship that was clinched in qualifying for the season-ending Winternationals.

In the leadup to this event – the team has been fortunate enough to secure associate support from Hertz Car Rentals – and the global company is keen to experience the world’s most explosive form of motorsport.

“We”re really happy to welcome one of the world’s biggest brands on our program in the form of Hertz Car Rentals,” said Morgan.

“They are leaders in their field – as we’ve proven to be in the ANDRA Pro Series.

“We”re working through options to find a new naming rights partner for the remainder of the 2011/2012 season – these events in Perth will be critical in terms of scoring points to the ANDRA Pro Series Top Fuel Championship.”

The entire DMR racing setup will remain in Perth between the December event and the next round of the ANDRA Pro Series Top Fuel Championship, slated for January 27-28.

Morgan has offered the machine to any organisation that is keen to be part of his racing program for static display – and added that he can set aside time to startup the 8,000 horsepower V8 motor as an added bonus.

“Top Fuel”s more than just watching cars on track, it’s a full body experience and we have a unique opportunity that we can take the car to a place of business and start it up,” Morgan explained. “It”s a fantastic promotion to have the car there, let customers sit in it and see what we see – but we see it at 550kph!”

The team has additionally been buoyed by the announcement of a new television package that will see the ANDRA Pro Series on both SBS and SPEED TV Australia.

The package will take the sport to a broader audience, particularly through the SPEED replays, which will air on Friday evenings, as well as ”on demand” online content.

“The new television deal is fantastic for the sport,” said Morgan. “We”ll be able to stretch the elastic even further with this new arrangement – particularly with prime time Friday night replays on SPEED and some other innovations the ANDRA broadcast team are working on.

“It will really deliver for our team, our sponsors and importantly, our sport as a whole.”

The Mildura-based DMR operation continues to enjoy major support from AEG Powertools, Shannons Insurance, Kennards Hire and Castrol EDGE.

Round two of the ANDRA Pro Series Top Fuel Championship will take place at the Perth Motorplex on Kwinana Beach, December 2-3, 2011.

MORE INFORMATION:
Ben Patterson
Crew Chief
Darren Morgan Racing
Phone: 0419 682 614
Email: ben@darrenmorganracing.com.au