HMO CUSTOMER RACING SECURES MUSTANG CUP AUS DARK HORSE R

MEDIA RELEASE/Mustang Cup – Photos: supplied and Velocity Magazine

HMO Customer Racing is taking an even bigger plunge into the Motorcraft Mustang Cup Australia after purchasing its own Dark Horse R car that it will enter in the one-make category.

The Sydney-based team has secured the new Dark Horse R that was raced by James Golding in the opening round of the series at Phillip Island earlier this year, and will campaign it for young gun Brock Stinson at Hidden Valley Raceway in next weekend’s fourth round.

HMO’s investment in its own Mustang Dark Horse R will mean that the team will run three cars in the inaugural all-Ford series, alongside the customer arrangement it currently has with Triple Eight Race Engineering.

Since the opening round, HMO has prepared and maintained the #888 Shaw and Partners Financial Services entry for Jack Perkins, and at the third round of the series, Triple Eight secured a second Dark Horse R that is being driven by young gun Oli Wickham.

In the last race at Queensland Raceway, the Triple Eight-backed pair recorded a crushing one-two result, leaving Perkins third in the title chase with three rounds remaining.

While the ownership of the cars are separate, the three cars will share information and data at race events.

Stinson has been confirmed as HMO’s first driver, and is set to make his debut in the Mustang class in Darwin after a stellar start to the GR Cup this year.

The 22-year-old currently sits third in the GR Cup with four race wins to his name after two rounds.

Stinson’s drive with HMO in Mustang Cup at Darwin is, for now, a one-off.

He sampled the car in a 15-lap test under lights at Sydney Motorsport Park earlier this week.

Stinson is also no stranger to the Barry Morcom-owned HMO Customer Racing operation. He has worked with the team in a data engineering capacity in the past, guiding Josh Buchan to victory in at the Korean round of the TCR World Tour last year.

He also conducts the role of data engineer for Tigani Motorsport’s GT3 racing program, but has foregone those duties in Darwin to focus on his drive in Mustang Cup.

The Motorcraft Mustang Cup Australia heads to Darwin for the fourth round of the inaugural series next weekend (July 24-26). Josh Anderson leads the title chase just ahead of Joe Fawcett and Perkins.

Track action kicks off on Friday with practice ahead of qualifying and racing on both Saturday and Sunday at Hidden Valley Raceway.

Both Saturday and Sunday’s qualifying and races will be broadcast on Foxtel and Kayo Sports for Australian residents. International viewers will be able to tune in live and free on Ford Racing’s YouTube channel.

Brock Stinson
#31 HMO Customer Racing Mustang Dark Horse R

“It’s great to get the opportunity to jump behind the wheel of the Mustang Dark Horse R with HMO Customer Racing,” said Stinson.

“The Mustang’s a really good car. It’s extremely powerful, and it’s on a really good tyre.

“I have not done too much driving on a slick tyre before, so to jump in there for my first real laps and work out how much grip it has and also how much power it has was really cool. I’m definitely looking forward to racing it in Darwin.

“The whole experience is going to be pretty surreal for me. My first-ever gig working in professional motorsport was with HMO. I started out as a number two mechanic on Josh Buchan’s TCR car at Bathurst in 2021.

“I did the TCR World Tour stuff with HMO last year, going to Korea and China as a data engineer when they campaigned Will Brown and Josh.

“So it’s going to be a bit surreal to be able to go to Darwin with them, but this time as a driver and actually represent them out on the track.

“I’m extremely grateful to Barry for giving me a shot in the category up against these guys.

“It’s only a one-off at the moment, but I would definitely love to gain some more support to try and do a few more rounds later in the year.”

Aaron Grech
Team manager, HMO Customer Racing

“We’ve really enjoyed running the Triple Eight Mustang Cup cars, and it’s great that Barry and the team has upped the ante to have our own car out there now too,” said Grech.

“Obviously, we’ve had a great chance to see what this category is about and its potential.

“Working with the Triple Eight guys has been really cool. Barry can see a future in the series and believes in it.

“This event worked out as an important one for Barry’s DPO business. He has a store up in Darwin, so he wanted to have a car on the grid.

“Brock is a known quantity for us, and he has been extremely keen to come and do it. He has been racing extremely well in the GR Cup and is the ideal young driver to start this program.

“It’s also exciting to move to a three-car effort, with all of the cars working together and sharing information, data and resources. It’s a great opportunity for all parties.”