Ex-pat West Australians Grant and Debbie O’Rourke will enjoy an action-packed start to 2015 when the new drag racing season kicks off this weekend. Two events will be held in just three weeks, with both held in the O’Rourke’s home state.
Top Doorslammer racer Grant will be on-track at the Perth Motorplex for both events, while Debbie will be on-hand for support at event one (Nitro Slam: 9-10 January) and on-track herself in the Top Alcohol bracket for event two (44th Westernationals: 30-31 January), following some dedicated testing time the Wednesday before.
“We are really excited to be heading back to the West to compete in not one but two events in January – while we now live in Brisbane, a lot of our friends and family are still based in West Australia as are 60 percent of our crew, so it is an important place for O’Rourke Motorsport,” said Grant.
Soon after the New Year the husband and wife team will undertake the driving duties of the O’Rourke Motorsport transporter across the country together, after Debbie secured her truck driving license just before Christmas.
On their way, they will stop-in to visit Top Fuel racer Phil Lamattina at his family’s Lamattina Farms for some late Christmas cheer.
“I am really excited to be able to share the driving duties with Grant across the Nullabor for our first events of the season,” said Debbie.
“Phil Lamattina has often urged us to visit their Mildura property if we were ever by that way so we will be taking the opportunity to drop in on our way – it is an impressive operation responsible for 600 tonnes of carrot production per week from two 6,000 acre properties, so we are excited to see how it all works up close.
“From there it will be onward bound to the Perth Motorplex for Grant’s first event of the year before we are both on-track two weeks later.
“While I won’t be racing at the first event, I will be undertaking testing on the Wednesday before what will be the first round of the Top Alcohol season for the year, with Grant providing his support to make sure no stone is left unturned.”
The last few weeks have been a busy time for Grant in particular, with the owner of the 1320 Racecars business not only working hard to prepare the O’Rourke machines for the January events but also working around the clock to repair the Top Doorslalmmer of fellow competitor Stuart Bishop following a 2014 season finale incident in Sydney.
“With a lot of preparations to be undertaken over the next few weeks, it is certainly going to be a busy January for the O’Rourke Motorsport outfit, but we can’t wait to be back on track. Hopefully we can bring home some great West results for the team and all our ‘home town’ supporters,” said Grant.
Image courtesy: dragphotos.com.au