Two-time Dunlop Series winner Steve Owen has rejoined MW Motorsport this weekend for the second round of the 2014 season at Winton Motor Raceway.
The experienced hand will step into the team’s #27 Ford Falcon FG alongside full-time MWM drivers Andre Heimgartner (Finance Ezi) and Morgan Haber (Miraflores Estate).
The late signing comes courtesy of backing from Global Welding and East Coast Traffic Control.
The move is somewhat of a repeat of last season, where Owen linked with MWM from the year’s second round following the graduation of Chaz Mostert to the main series.
Team owner Matthew White hopes that a strong showing this weekend will enable the MWM to secure the backing to run Owen for the remainder of the season.
“Our third car doesn’t currently have a full-time driver so we’re very happy to put this deal together for Steve,” said White.
“We want to be up the front and Steve is certainly the best person for that job.
“From driving with us last year he knows the cars and knows how to communicate with the crew to get the most out of the package.
“He was an obvious choice and hopefully we can find the support to continue with Steve for the remainder of the year.”
Owen, who raced a Porsche in the Australian GT Championship last weekend at Sandown and will get behind the wheel of a Lamborghini at the Spa 24 Hours later this year, added his pleasure at the late call-up.
“I’ve done a few Thursday afternoon seat fittings in my time so there’s no problem from that side of it,” said Owen.
“It’s great that Global Welding and East Coast Traffic Control have come on board this weekend to make it possible.
“Last year we joined MW Motorsport at the second round of the season without having seen the car before and we had it on pole first time out.
“I think with a year under our belts we’ll have a good strong showing this weekend.”
Heimgartner and Haber both made promising starts to the season for MWM in Adelaide last month and are aiming to build on their success this weekend.
The Finance Ezi Ford sits sixth in the standings following the season-opener, while 15th placed Haber will take plenty of confidence from his strong showing at Winton last year.
“We’re looking for big things from both Andre and Morgan this weekend,” said White.
“Andre was a top-five runner on pace in Adelaide and he should be even stronger now after a full weekend getting used to our team and cars.
“Morgan is also improving with experience and will benefit from the fact that this is our test circuit.”
Practice for Round 2 of the Dunlop Series gets underway today ahead of qualifying and 25 lap races on Saturday and Sunday.
