FORD CHASE FIRST CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND WIN IN NZ
28/4/2004 0:06 (Press Release) -
Ford's V8 Supercar teams head to New Zealand for the third round in this year's
V8 Supercar Championship Series with a simple goal of scoring the Blue Oval's
first championship round win across the Tasman.
This will be the fourth time a full championship round has been held at Pukekohe
Park Raceway south of Auckland, but the PlaceMarkers V8 International (April
30 - May 2) has been the domain of one man, Greg Murphy.
The NZ driver has won all three rounds held, but there's been a concerted effort
by the Ford teams to topple Murphy's title of King of Pukekohe this year.
New Zealanders make up a large contingent of V8 Supercars, both behind the wheel
as well as throughout the teams.
Leading the way is two-time World Touring Car Cup holder Paul Radisich (Team
Betta Electrical) and defending V8 Supercar team's champion Stone Brothers Racing,
who will field 2003 V8 Supercar Champion Marcos Ambrose (Pirtek Racing) and Russell
Ingall (Caltex Havoline Racing).
"It's just one round of 13, but to me winning in NZ would be very special," said
Radisich.
"My record at Pukekohe up until when we started to run the full championship
was pretty good, since then it's not been so great.
"In saying that, we'll go into the event very well prepared and here's hoping
Murphy doesn't have quite the same home coming this time around.
"Although the track is short, getting the right car set-up always seems very
tricky. The big difference this year is that we're going in the cooler months
and that will have most of the teams scratching their heads to get the cars just
right."
Having grown up not far from the Pukekohe Park Raceway, Jimmy and Ross Stone
are two of the Counties district favourite sons. The team chose to use the second
of its six test days for the year going into the NZ round.
Two years ago Marcos Ambrose came close to winning the Pukekohe round, but a
puncture ended his hopes with a handful of laps remaining.
"Our team sat down at the start of the year and identified the races that we
really wanted on the CV. Adelaide was the first and we won that event, the next
box we want to tick off is Pukekohe," said Ambrose.
"It's a very important event for Jimmy and Ross, as well as the other Kiwi boys
we have in the team.
"For Ford and the Blue Oval fans in NZ it's a major opportunity to feel like
champions. We only race in New Zealand once a year and the winner of the race
can own those bragging rights until next season!
"Due to the tight shipping deadlines, and that fact that the next two rounds
are long-haul trips to Darwin and Perth, the team decided to go testing before
New Zealand. We had a very good day, and that's certainly a bonus for us going
into Pukekohe.
"As far as our championship challenge, NZ is vital. We won the opening round
and slipped back to second after the wet race at Sydney's Eastern Creek. We are
keen to regain the lead in the championship, as well as hopefully build a buffer
on our rivals."
Following his second placing at Eastern Creek, CAT Ford Performance Racing's
Craig Lowndes is also keen to continue his climb up the championship ladder.
"NZ is three very tough races totalling 400km of racing," said Lowndes.
"We have to make compulsory tyre stops in each race, and with only 12 new tyres
for the weekend, making sure you have good rubber to finish the event is always
a challenge.
"The big factor will be the weather. Not just the temperature but also the greater
likelihood of rain. In this sport you have to consider everything and that's
what makes it a great challenge."
All the teams' equipment were loaded onto the Wallenius Wilhelmsen Lines, 'Maersk
Wind' on Wednesday 21 April in Brisbane and will start unloading in Auckland
on Sunday 25 April.
Included for the first time were all B-Double transporters, weighing in at 1000
tonnes. In these trucks are 32 racecars, safety and course cars, race tyres,
engines, gearboxes, mobile boardrooms, scooters, motorbikes, thousands of pieces
of equipment and tools.
500 people will fly across the Tasman to put the show on the road at Pukekohe.
It starts the biggest travel period of the V8 Supercar season, with the following
two rounds reaching the far north of Australia in Darwin and then the west coast
of Perth.
Teams hit the track at Pukekohe for practice and qualifying on the Friday, with
the top-10 shootout and opening 100km race on the Saturday and the final two
150km races on the Sunday.
Details for Pukekohe:
Top 10 Shootout - Saturday 1 May 11.45am
Race 1 (36 laps - 100.8km) - Saturday 1 May - 2.35pm
Race 2 (54 laps - 151.2km) - Sunday 2 May - 12.10pm
Race 3 (54 laps - 151.2km) - Sunday 2 May - 3.40pm
Circuit: Pukekohe Park Raceway
Length: 2.8km
Lap Records:
Qualifying - Murphy 0:56.54 (2003)
Shootout - Murphy 0:56.9052 (2001)
Race - Seton 0:57.3500 (1996)
Estimated top speed: 275km/h - Back Straight
Estimated average speed: 155 km/h
Top-10 championship - after 2 of 13 rounds
1. Steven Richards - Castrol Perkins Motorsport - Holden Commodore - 360 pts
2. Marcos Ambrose - Pirtek Racing - Ford Falcon BA - 348 pts
3. Rick Kelly - KMart Racing - Holden Commodore - 336 pts
4. Greg Murphy - KMart Racing - Holden Commodore - 327 pts
5. Jason Bargwanna - Orrcon Steel Racing - Ford Falcon BA - 270 pts
6. Jason Bright - PWR Racing - Holden Commodore - 267 pts
7. Paul Morris - Sirromet Racing - Holden Commodore - 264 pts
8. Craig Baird - Team Kiwi Racing - Holden Commodore - 258 pts
9.Garth Tander - Valvoline Cummins Racing - Holden Commodore - 222 pts
10. John Bowe - OzEmail Racing - Ford Falcon BA - 216 pts
Ford's V8 Line-up for Pukekohe
#1 Marcos Ambrose - Pirtek Racing
#9 Russell Ingall - Caltex Havoline Racing
#5 Glenn Seton - Ford Credit/FPV Ford Performance Racing
#6 Craig Lowndes - CAT Ford Performance Racing
#10 Jason Bargwanna - Orrcon Steel Racing
#20 Mark Winterbottom - Orrcon Steel Racing
#12 John Bowe - OzEmail Race Team
#21 Brad Jones - OzEmail Race Team
#17 Steve Johnson - Shell Helix Racing
#18 Warren Luff - Shell Helix Racing
#23 David Besnard - WPS Racing
#31 Steve Ellery - Super Cheap Auto Racing
#88 Paul Radisich - Team Betta Electrical
#888 Max Wilson - Team Betta Electrical
Ford's V8 Milestones for NZ
John Bowe - OzEmail Racing - 175th championship round start
Birthdays
21 April 1976 - Warren Luff - Shell Helix Racing
26 April 1972 - Jason Bargwanna - Orrcon Steel Racing
5 May 1965 - Glenn Seton - Ford Performance Racing
Release Date: 26/04/2004
Ford Racing Australia
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