Former Midland man joins DJR.

By Matthew Agius

Former Midland Formula One team Sporting Director Adrian Burgess has joined Dick Johnson Racing for the V8 Supercar Championship Series.

Moving to Queensland directly from the United Kingdom, Burgess will fill the same position that he left Midland with. As DJR's new Sporting Director, Burgess has been signed to rejuvenate the squad's main game V8 Supercar campaign, and with experience ranging from openwheelers to touring cars and endurance racing, his knowledge will be beneficial heading into the forthcoming V8 enduros.

Team Owner Dick Johnson was pleased with the signing of Burgess to the once mighty Ford operation, and expects the team to revel under his guidance.

"The reason we haven't appointed anyone up until this point is because we wanted to make sure we got the right person for the job," team owner Dick Johnson said.

"It's a crucial position and we needed to have all the right pieces in place before we moved forward, we didn't want to take just anyone on.

"Dave Stuart has done a fantastic job in the meantime, taking on extra responsibility, and the entire team has rallied together to keep things running smoothly. We expect that Adrian will fit in nicely, he's spent some time with us already and everything seems to click."

Since earning its mantle of being the top Ford team in the 2001 V8 Supercar Championship, Dick Johnson Racing has struggled to match the top teams of V8 Supercars since, hopefully for the team the signing of a ex-Formula One brain will be beneficial to the team, especially with recent success stories such as Tim Edwards (formerly of Jordan Grand Prix) to Ford Performance Racing.

Burgess' first V8 Supercar round as Sporting Director will be next weekend at Oran Park where DJR's full-timers Steve Johnson and Will Davison will be joined by Fujitsu Series pilots Grant Denyer, Adam Thompson and Marcus La Delle.