Lowndes 11th in Third Grand Prix V8 Batlle`
8/3/2004 2:14 (Press Release) -
Ford Performance Racing (FPR) driver Craig Lowndes has finished
just outside the V8 Supercar top ten in 11th place after the third and final V8
Supercar race held at the 2004 Australian Grand Prix. Lowndes' team mate Glenn
Seton endured a difficult race following an early accident that ended his
chances of progression, bringing his damaged Ford Credit FPV Falcon home in
24th place.
Continuing the trend of this year's Grand Prix V8 Supercar showcase races,
drama arrived early with an opening lap accident involving Holden drivers Mark
Skaife and Simon Wills. Lowndes had managed to race his CAT FPR Falcon from
24th to 15th on the opening lap, with Seton up one position to 20th despite a
bad start.
The following laps saw Lowndes power his way through the field, proving the
potential of the 2004 specification FPR Falcon amongst his competitors. The
triple V8 Supercar Champion raced his way to 11th by the chequered flag. Seton,
who was driving his FPR Falcon in 2003 configuration, raced up to 18th by the
6th lap but was involved in an accident with Holden driver Anthony Tratt
shortly after, sending the FPR driver off the circuit. Seton finished in 24th
place.
The third and final V8 Supercar race at Albert Park was won by Holden driver
Jason Bright with Stephen Richards and Garth Tander making up the podium.
FPR have gleaned a significant amount of performance comparison data between
the 2003 configuration BA Falcon that Seton was driving, compared to the
completely re-designed 2004 specification BA Falcon that Lowndes debuted in
Albert Park. Both Seton and Lowndes will race 04 specification FPR Falcons in
the opening round of the V8 Supercar Championship in Adelaide on March 20 - 21.
#6 Craig Lowndes - "We changed the car again overnight and we added new spec
shocks that we wanted to use in Adelaide as an unknown quantity. This change
worked very well. We are far more encouraged heading towards the opening round
of the Championship after our performance in this race. I saw a bit of the turn
one accident as I was on the inside of the circuit and what normally happens at
turn one actually did, so I was fortunate to gain a couple of positions from
it."
#5 Glenn Seton - "I got off to a bad start as I couldn't see the lights from
the rear of the grid. I almost got caught up in the first corner accident and I
had to drive off the circuit onto the grass to avoid it. I then did the best I
could to make up ground until I had the hit with Anthony Tratt which ended any
chance of a better result in this race. I dived down the inside to overtake him
and he just kept closing me out, we hit and that was the end of my race."
FPR Chief Engineer, John Russell - "The third Grand Prix race was a good one
for Craig as a number of the changes we made overnight paid off. He made up a
number of positions during the race and this was encouraging. Glenn had an
altercation with Anthony Tratt that dropped him back, otherwise he finished the
race as expected in the older configuration car."
Release Date: 7/03/2004
Ford Performance Racing
|
|
