On the eve of their 25th anniversary, family Steakhouse chain Hogs Breath Café, will join forces with the 2014 Australian V8 Ute Racing Series and take up Naming Rights for Round 3.
It will co-incide with the categories 10th appearance at Hidden Valley Raceway from June 20-22.
Marketing Manager of Hogs Breath Café ,Greg “Disco” Miller is looking forward to being involved with the Series again (Hogs Breath were partners in the 2009 Series).
Category Manager Craig Denyer is excited to have the fun-loving restaurant chain back on board.
“We’ve always had a great relationship with Hogs Breath and it’s fantastic to see them back in the category, they always bring a quirky aspect to the Series, especially with the Hogster on the Grid, it is a great fit for the brand,” said Denyer.
The infamous Hogster will be out in force over the weekend to cheer on the 32 V8 Ute drivers, especially two-time Champion Ryal Harris, who will attempt his third Round win in a row at the Top End as well as trying to catch Kris Walton in the ARMOR ALL Drivers Championship
“It would be great to win again at Darwin, I’ve won three races there last year so feeling pretty confident,” said Harris.
Walton has never boasted a great round in Darwin, he’s yet to win a race or place at Hidden Valley Raceway.
The series leader dominated round two in Perth, and will be up against the likes of David Sieders, who is hot on his heels in second place in the ARMOR ALL Drivers Championship. Sieders has netted three race wins, two Pole Positions, second overall in 2011/2012 and third in 2013 at Hidden Valley.
V8 Ute Veteran Kim Jane is also no slouch in the driver’s seat at Darwin, claiming second for the Round last year and taking out the Round in 2011.
South Aussie Michael Almond will steer his Holden VE for the first time since Sandown last year, and after two rounds racing in a Ford FG with Big Gun Racing, General Carrying’s Matt Nolan will move back to the Holden camp of Murphy Motorsport.
Aaron Borg will debut in Ben Dunn’s Ford.
The Sydney based rookie was diagnosed with a heart condition (sub-aortic stenosis) at a young age, and was motivated to get well by his parents with the promise of a kart drive when he was better.
He started walking again and drove in his first competition at age 10 and raced in various state titles from age 16.
After six years of competitive karting, the now 24-year was discovered by V8 Ute driver Andrew Fisher and will race in his first V8 Ute Racing under the Jesus Racing driver development program.
“I’m definitely looking forward to racing, you can only do so much in testing and you don’t really know until you actually get out there with 32 other Utes,” Borg said.
“I didn’t expect to be racing against Andrew (Fisher), when we first talked it was with notion of the two-driver race but driving against him will be just as good.
“I’ve been watching a lot of videos of Hidden Valley and playing on the simulator at home so hopefully I’ll know which way the track goes when I get there.”
Drivers and teams will be heading to Hogs Breath Café in Darwin for the State of Origin next Wednesday, before knocking into gear for Round 3, which will see Race 1 and Race 3 televised live on the Seven Network.
See below full V8 Ute Race Schedule:
Friday, 20th June Practice 1 9:35am
Friday, 20th June Practice 2 1:50pm
Saturday, 21st June Qualifying 10:25am
Saturday, 21st June Race 1 3:21pm
Sunday, 22nd June Race 2 11:00am
Sunday, 22nd June Race 3 1:15pm
