Last weekend Steve Owen drove for the factory Ford team in the first of Australia’s big V8 Supercars endurance races; in less than a fortnight’s time he’ll be at Taupo partnering Aucklander Tim Edgell in the season’s opening BNT NZ SuperTourers endurance event.
The experienced Owen is in great demand as a co-driver and at the weekend he joined Ford Performance Racing’s Mark Winterbottom – who led much of this year’s Supercar championship – for Melbourne’s Sandown 500 race, the lead-up race to the Bathurst 1000km classic next month.
Owen finished third in the preliminary race for co-drivers but was less fortunate in the main race as he and Winterbottom came in 10th.
Edgell, who won two of last year’s BNT NZ SuperTourers endurance races partnered with Aussie Lee Holdsworth, says he is delighted to have secured Owen’s services for the Rush Security Taupo 400 on September 27-28 and the following long-distance events at Hampton Downs and Pukekohe.
“I think Steve will be really good for us, like Lee was last year,” he says. “I think we’ve got a pretty competitive car.
“Having another driver helps too, it takes a little bit of the pressure off and it also gives you a bit of a sounding board – you can work together to try to improve the car. It’s something to look forward to.”
Owen has the added advantage of having raced the Kiwi cars before. “Last year he drove with Eddie Bell and the year before I think he drove with Geoff Emery,” Edgell says.
“He doesn’t need any extra miles; he can just hop in the car and go.”
Edgell and his father Randell have rebuilt their Chesters Holden Commodore between seasons and they believe it is in fine shape for the newchampionship series.
“The main thing is, we’ve had a break from the sport in the off-season,” he says. “This is not our full-time thing; we just work on the car after-hours so that takes a lot out of you during the season.
“So I’ve had a freshen-up and I’ll definitely come back more enthused and hopefully get some good results.
“I’ve had some pretty good races this year but I’ve had some pretty terrible ones too. I think we learned a lot and we can just bottle that experience up now and make some right decisions.”
Edgell is sure his team will be “pretty competitive” in the endurance series.
“It depends how much everyone else has moved on but I’m pretty confident with the guys I’ve got in the team and I’m very confident with Steve so we’ve got a pretty good package,” he says.
