Ash Miller and the team would like to wish all of you a safe and happy Christmas, and all the best wishes for 2011! Check back again soon to see exciting news for the 2011 year!

The 2010 season has been a long and exciting one for Dark Horse Racing, and with the final round of the CUE One Hour Endurance championship being held at none other than the prestigious Phillip Island circuit in Melbourne, DHR’s drivers Ash Miller and Geoff Marsh were eager to tackle the famous sweeping curves.

However, the final round to the 2010 season was almost over before it began – early Friday morning, before the team had even glimpsed the Island circuit for the first time, one team member discovered upon waking in the early hours that the team’s transporter, complete with car and with fellow racer Kerry Finn’s car in tow, was missing. A frantic chase ensued in the team’s hire car, with team member Ray Stewart thankfully spotting the truck heading off down the street in the hands of the thieves.

After the Starsky and Hutch style fanatical chases were finished, the car finally hit the track in earnest on Friday, immediately showcasing why it’s been the car to beat all season.

“Right from the opening session, the car as on form,” driver Ash Miller said.

“We never needed to even tweak the car – it was flying, and it’s a testament to all the hard yards and rigorous attention to detail that has been applied to the car.”

Opening sessions were threatened by looming Phillip Island cloud cover; with the Island’s revelling race goers no strangers to typical Melbourne downpours, wet tyres were never far from being ready to bolt on.

Marsh took to the track first, using his previous knowledge of the circuit to give the DHR machine its maiden Island laps, while Miller donned the class 2C car of Henri Van Roden for the opening sessions – Miller being roped in the as co-driver to bolster his charge on the class 2C championship.

With the car sorted and ready to rumble, it was on to Saturday’s qualifying action. With the field boasting 50 cars, many of which go by such names as Lamborghini, Ford GT, Lotus and Maserati, Qualifying would be an exciting affair. Indeed the weather ensured that the grid was something to remember – with the driver’s session being held  during a heavy downpour, times from the opening Qualifying session were markedly slower than that of the dry-run co-driver’s session. This meant that many of the Australian GT-derived entrants, who run only single drivers, were left languishing in the lower half of the grid, while the plucky co-drivers in MX5′s and other machinary of lesser power were sprung into unfamiliar territory a lomg way up the grid.

The unusual order saw DHR’s machine line up an incredible 17th on a grid of 50 cars for the feature event, with Ash Miller helping Henri van Roden’s entry up into 15th place overall.

This starting order was reflected for the drivers and co-drivers races, which preceded the main event. The driver’s race saw Miller take to the wheel of the #94 machine, to tackle the Island racing for the very first time.

“This place is just so magic, the organisers were right to call it what they have,” Miller commented after Qualifying.

“It’s just so quick, the circuit is so fast and flowing, and our little car might be a bit down on power to the others but it has the most awesome cornering speed. I’m so thrilled to drive this thing here this weekend.”

The drivers race saw Miller bring the car home in 17th place after an eventful hard fought race, run in torrential rain with visibility proving the most major obsticle. That said, there were a couple of hairy moments.

“On the opening lap I had Iain Pretty’s GT40 right behind me, and as I exited the hairpin at Lukey my car aquaplaned and I ended up completely sideways across the track. Iain had to take evasive action, and it was some sort of miracle that the car didn’t end up going all teh way around in front of the pack. There was standing water everywhere, and even on the straight I was flat in 6th and all of a sudden the car would just skate for a few metres. Somehow, the whole experience was more thrilling than anything else!”

The rivers had dried come the co-driver’s race, and Geoff Marsh was handed the reigns to DHR’s challenger, with Miller swapping roles to take the wheel of Henri’s car.

Both drivers made good starts, with Geoff driving faultlessly to collect a couple of positions early on and hold them for the race. Miller, on the other hand, was locked in a battle with Chris Gough’s BMW Z-coupe. The pair swapped positions several times per lap before disaster struck – on the final lap an oddly-placed kill switch meant that Miller’s hand brushed the switch mid-gearchange, and switched the car off. The problem wasn’t discovered until Miller had pulled off the circuit, and by then the car was stuck in the quagmire that had become of the grassy infield.

The results, however, meant that Miller and Marsh won Class E in both the driver’s races, despite battling with fuel surge in the latter’s case. It was time to bring on the main event.

The final One Hour race of the year was held on the Sunday, with early rain looking threatening for the race. With Miller opting to start the race in Henri’s car, and Marsh therefore lining up in the DHR car, both drivers had the unique distinction of starting the same race together. When the lights went out, both driver’s made a clean getaway under grey skies. The quicker cars in the pack behind quickly made their way forwards, and from there, it was a long afternoon of racing.

Fuel saving measures were in place at DHR, with the team using more than was anticipated on the fast, flowing circuit, and Marsh duly did his best to keep the car’s fuel consumption down. Further up, Miller had found another battle on his hands, this time with Matilda Mravavic’s turbo MX5 – the pair were locked in a battle for several laps, until the pitstop window called an end to their duel.

Miller made his stop first, bringing the car in on the 30 minute mark to hand the reigns over to Henri van Roden. Marsh, henceforth, made his stop just 2 laps later, swapping places now with Miller as the latter continued on in the #94 machine. Confusing? Maybe a little.

After the stops had been completed, Miller held a lead of nearly a minute over the next Class E car of David Gainer, and implimented fuel saving measures once again, using the gap as a buffer as he cruised the car home to take 23rd overall on the road, and 1st place in Class E.

Miller’s efforts with van Roden meant that the Class C car finished 21st overall, however, the result in Class C meant that Henri missed out on 2010 Championship honours by just a solitary point.

The cars parked up on the grid for the presentations, with the DHR machine perhaps appropriately placed front and centre, alongside race winner Mark Eddy’s all conquering Audi R8LMS, and Townsend’s rapid Lotus HPE. The final scene on the grid as the cars rolled in was a fitting end to DHR’s 4 year history, and signalled the end to a fantastically successful 2010.

Miller and Marsh were undisputed Class E champions, clean sweeping the entire championship to call the honour their own, and collecting more silverware as the presentations got underway. Miller in fact earned the unique honour of claiming two wins in the same race – in addition to Class E accolades, Miller and van Roden sealed Class C for the round.

As the cars were brought back into trucks and trailers, and the sun set somewhere behind the clouds on Phillip Island, Team DHR reflected on a year living at the edge, and on the top, of the Production Sports car scene. Their efforts for the year saw them take home 2nd place overall in the Championship – no mean feat considering the machinary behind them included several Porsches, Lotuses, a Maserati or two, and a BMW.

DHR could never have had a more fitting send off.

Many, many thanks to those who helped us get to the top; Errol Davidson, Graham Miller, John and Joey Bayly, Gary Stewart, Wayne Davidson, Marcel Stawiczny and members of Quest Newspapers.

None of this would be possible without the unwavering efforts of these people, and the support of the many fans who let us know they’re behind us!