As the sun set on over the rubber-glistened tarmac of Eastern Creek’s high-speed collection of twists and turns, few could be forgiven for failing to notice the DHR car on track for much of the weekend.

Coming off a tough race meeting at the famed Bathurst circuit, DHR duo John Prefontaine and Ash Miller laboured relentlessly to ensure a repeat of the troubles that plagued the #94 would not be repeated.

Tireless hours of work culminated in a test session 2 weeks prior to the Eastern Creek round – the plucky Elise threaded 50 laps of Warwick’s Morgan Park without so much as a stutter. Problems rectified, the car was prepared and tripped towards the latest southern round of the Championship.

“Hopes were high, and we were positive,” Miller said.

“Having had the car run perfectly for so long we just wanted to get on track and get on with it.”

Arriving at Sydney’s premier circuit amid a flood of cars competing in the first round of the Australian GT series, prestige cars littered the pitlane, and the little Lotus demanded attention in a grid of Lamborghinis, Exiges and a Ford GT or two. However, being on the grid would prove to be a bigger challenge than could have been anticipated.

“The car was difficult right from the start,” Prefontaine said.

“Right from the first session, the car was giving dramas, and unfortunely, that would paint the picture of the weekend.”

Both Miller and Prefontaine struggled with a tight cross-gate cable during the opening sessions of the weekend, before electrical dramas saw DHR struggle through qualifying with just 2 cylinders running. More diagnostic work on the car would prove futile, as the drivers races blasted by on the weekend’s calendar without the #94 crossing the line.

Frustrations continued into Sunday’s One Hour race – sleepless and left scratching their heads, DHR’s complete reconstruction of the car’s ECU overnight proved to be little more successful.

“The car ran on all cylinders, but would cut out intermittantly, without warning, and coast to a halt before sporadically firing again. It wasn’t fun, and you simply can’t continue like that.”

The One Hour race brought one glimmer of hope, however – starting from 36th on the grid, Miller passed no less than 15 cars - on the opening lap - on his way up the order, jumping into the class lead just half way around the first lap.

The sheer pace would only last for one tour of the Eastern Creek circuit – exiting the final corner the Lotus gave up the ghost, and coasted to an untimely halt.

“It was disappointing, but we’ve diagnosed the problems and we’ll come out firing for Morgan Park,” Prefontaine said.

The Spader-backed #94 will be in track again in a few months; the 3rd round of the 2011 CUE One Hour Endurace Series takes the travelling circus to QLD, and to Morgan Park’s technical mix of quick corners and twisty turns.

“Hopefully with a hometown advantage we’ll be looking better - the car has awesome pace, now we just need to keep it up for all the laps!”

Don’t forget to check out the clothes that define cool – Spader Clothing is releasing it’s winter lineup as we speak!

Keep up to date on DHR via Twitter – follow @dhracing!

Pictures and more updates to come.

Bathurst provides a unique challenge to all who choose to try and tame it’s famous 6.2km stretch of sacred road. Some 2 hours south of Orange and way out west of Sydney, Bathurst’s sleepy little town is rumbled several times a year by both cars and transporters alike, as the air is split by a cochophany of synchronised condensed petrol-and-air explosions.

If the easter bunny was around, he was scared away by the sound of everything from Lambourghini V10s to high-revving Zetecs, as the Bathurst Motor Festival gave Easter Sunday an even holier-than-thou tinge to the Easter holidays. It seemed apt to be blessed with running across one of the world’s most famous motorsporting mountains on such a religiously distinct weekend.

And didn’t we know it.

The #94 DHR machine was in for a treat – however, it promptly added ‘re’ before ‘treat’, as the car hit the track for the first of the weekends practice sessions.

“The excitement is palpable – there’s a huge buzz in the air,” car owner and driver John Prefontaine expressed as the weekend started.

“It’s Bathurst – and I can’t wait to get laps under the belt here. The Lotus will be quick, and we’re looking competitive.”

However, the little Elise had plans of its own, and come the end of Qualifying a recurring Throttle Position Sensor problem had seen clean laps total to just about nil. Hence, the yellow Rover-powered mountain menace ended a lowly 40th on the time sheets – yet within shouting distance of the top Class E runners.

“Despite the dramas the car felt great to drive, and it just rockets down the hill,” co-driver Ash Miller said.

“I can’t wait to really see what this thing has got – coming down the Esses the car was just magic, it eats everything up. We’ll just have to see how the weekend pans out. Starting from 40th means we have some ground to make up, but it also means we have alot of fun ahead tomorrow (Saturday).”

Saturday dawned with a revalation with the wiring – the source of the TPS problems had been located, and with the wiring taped to roughly the thickness of King Kong’s pinky, confidence was boosted.

The first drivers race saw Prefontaine tackle his first racing laps on the mountain, and was performing well, until with 4 laps left to go, a recurring gearbox problem saw the Birkdale native end his race against the Turn 1 barrier. The damage to the right rear of the car meant that his race was over.

“I just got it wrong trying to let a faster Porsche through,” Prefontaine said.

“I went into the corner just slightly offline and the end result meant that the car clipped the wall. It was a disappointing end but I’ve learned alot with every lap.”

The team frantically worked on the car to get it ready in time for the co-drivers race; the toe-link rod had been bent at an odd angle, yet thankfully that was all the damage done, and after some inventive fabrication and some careful re-bending, the part was back in the car just in time to get ready for the next race.

Although Miller lined up on the grid quite confortably, it was minus the alternator – the impact of the clash with the wall had seen the mounting bracket broken, and efforts to fix it in time had lead to a rather comical stop gap measure. For Race 2, the Lotus was powered by a Toyota Land Cruiser battery.

The car was on song for the opening half of the race, as Miller carved his way through the field on the opening lap to pass no less than 9 people on his way up the order, and was challenging for the Class lead until, with half the race still to run, the TPS decided it was tiem to give up the ghost, and Miller coasted to a stop in the pit garage.

“It was a disappointing way to finish – the car was feeling great. But we just want to finish the One Hour,” Miller said.

A long night turned into a long morning, and the DHR boys, along with an assortment of fellow team’s gracious helpers, have the Elise a stern working over, battling to tackle the gremlins that plagued the car for the weekend. With the altenator bracket finally fixed in time for the One Hour feature race, the mood was positive.

The start of the One Hour saw Miller take the reigns; however, while battling for the class lead once again, the TPS decided to get up to no good, and despite a safety car being called on lap 2, the DHR machine limped back to the pits for repairs.

“The car was flying on lap one, but by lap 2 the problem had come back again, and there was no option but to pit.”

After pitting in, however, Miller was embroiled in a spirited battle with Cameron Hein, and despite being a lep down, the pair enjoyed a mighty tussle before the compulsory driver change stops got underway.

Prefontaine leapt in the car at the halfway mark, and although the stop was less than smooth, the car got back out in good time.

From there, the attrition rate rose with alarming effect, as many of the front running cars dropped out towards the closing stages of the race. The #94 did its best to join them, discarding both 3rd and 5th gear and insisting that the TPS gremlin remain a fixture of the car for the remainder of the race. As the laps counted down, the Elise wound past the start finish line with increasingly more smoke billowing from its engine bay, as an alternator belt did its best to burn away. Yet the laps ran out successfully, and as the chequered flag fell, Prefontaine crossed the line to bring the car home, 5th place in Class E and with a nice haul of valuable points towards the championship.

“We’re just so glad to make it!” Prefontaine said afterwards.

“It’s been a tough weekend but all we wanted was to finish.”

Miller was similarly happy with the result.

“After so many problems over the weekend it was really a victory in itself to get the car home. The pace is there, but we’ll have to work hard to make sure the car is really in a position to challenge for the next round. To finish first, you first have to finish!”

The next round of the Championship will bring the Elise to Eastern Creek, scene of DHR’s maiden One Hour win last year. Will the team repeat the feat?

“The car has enough pace to really challenge the front runners – if not the outright class win. It’ll need a bit of work before then, but I’m confident that with the car sorted, it will be formiddable.”

Many thanks to Ron Prefontaine, Graham Miller, Michael Keene, Wayne Davidson, Corey Stevens, Geoff Marsh, Marcel Stawitzcny, Hugh Millear and all at Spader Clothing and Reel Fit for the amazing support.

Don’t forget to check out the brand that wraps driver Ash Miller – www.spaderclothing.com – and get your new season street threads now.

— All photos courtesy of Hugh Millear – (c) Hugh Millear 2011 —

VIEW ALL THE PHOTOS FROM THE WEEKEND HERE

With just weeks to go before the Bathurst air is split with a chochophany of racing engines mixed with Easter cheer, Dark Horse Racing’s new-for-2011 stable are hyping up to give the Mountain a shake up.

With developments continuing on the yellow #94 machine, excitement is building as both drivers are confirmed to take the Bathurst grid for the first round of the 2011 Production Sports One Hour Championship.

“There’s nothing that compares to Bathurst – it’s quite simply the racing experience every Aussie driver dreams about,” said driver Ash Miller, who will be defending his Class E title in 2011.

“The lotus is going to handle the track brilliantly – I can’t wait to see how it tackles it.”

After a 6-month hiatus from competing, Miller is chomping at the bit to get the 2011 season really underway.

In between developmental spells, driver John Prefontaine gifted the Elise trips to Morgan Park and Sydney’s Eastern Creek raceway, adding to his impressive set of runs by notching up more impressive results against far more illustrious machinery.

“The car feels better all the time – every time we hit the track, it just keeps going faster,” John said.

“It’s looking great for the Bathurst weekend.”

Work continues on the #94 machine to make sure the car will be ready to do battle.

Check back often for more!