CHALLENGING NEW ZEALAND ROUND FOR FPR
10/5/2004 0:26 (Press Release) -
The New Zealand round of the 2004 V8 Supercar Championship proved
to be highly challenging for Ford Performance Racing (FPR).
The event included a number of dry and wet circuit set-up challenges along with
the introduction of three relatively short V8 Supercar sprint races on the
Sunday, due to an inclement weather race cancellation on the Saturday.
CAT FPR Falcon driver Craig Lowndes finished 8th, 29th and a DNF in the three
New Zealand races. Ford Credit FPV Falcon driver Glenn Seton finished 29th,
21st and 22nd in today's three 36 lap races.
A highly disappointing weekend overall, with the team now concentrating their
efforts on preparing the two FPR Falcons for the V8 Supercar Series' 4th round
in Darwin from May 21-23. In order to spend as much time as possible on the
team's continuing development work, both FPR Falcons will be air freighted to
Melbourne on Monday.
#5 Glenn Seton - "It was a hard day on the track, we haven't got the pace we
need and our finishing positions show that. When you start the weekend off
with an incident that drops you to the back of the field, it is very difficult
to come back from it. We continue to learn more from every round, but this was
a very disappointing overall result and I hope we can do much better at Hidden
Valley."
#6 Craig Lowndes - "I had a great first race as our car works very well in the
wet conditions and this also eliminates the engine side of it. We managed to
stay out of trouble and get up from 21st to 8th - a much more comfortable
starting position for the second race. An alternator belt failed in the second
race and we brought the car into the pits to save the engine, but I believe
that the engine must have suffered because we lacked significant horsepower
from the second to the third race. Five laps before I came into the pits the
power steering pump failed and a few laps later the cockpit filled up with
smoke, we later found out that it wasn't an engine fire, but this was our
concern. It is really disappointing as we worked hard on the car all weekend
for precious little reward."
FPR Chief Engineer, John Russell - "A disappointing weekend for the team,
Glenn drove solidly and improved the car throughout, but the dice would not
roll for him in each of the races. Craig endured a number of mechanical
issues, culminating in a power steering connector failure half way through
the last race and we brought him in when smoke appeared in the cockpit to
not take any risks. The cars will be back with us on Wednesday and we have
some serious preparation work to do before the next round in Darwin."
New Zealand Race Summaries.
RACE ONE
After cancelling Saturday's opening 36 lap race, Avesco announced that
instead of two Sunday 56 lap races, three 36 lap events would be held at
Auckland's Pukekohe Park Raceway.
After a heavy downpour of rain overnight and early in the morning, the first
New Zealand V8 Supercar race for 2004 started at 10:00am on a wet circuit
with light rain. The rain did stop within the first fifteen laps and the
circuit rapidly dried during the closing stages of the race
CAT FPR Falcon driver Craig Lowndes raced from 21st on the starting grid to
8th in Sunday's first of three 36 lap races at Auckland's Pukekohe Park
Raceway.
In a superb effort on the wet but rapidy drying circuit using intermediate
tyres, Lowndes' drive saw the 29 year old force his way past several
competitors while avoding of a number competitor accidents directly ahead of
him.
Ford Credit FPV Falcon driver Glenn Seton finished the race in 29th place
after he was hit by Holden driver Paul Morris at the hairpin on the second
lap. Seton was one of a handful of drivers who changed to slick / dry
weather tyres during the race and he set the second fastest lap of the race
after the change.
RACE TWO
Ford Performance Racing (FPR) drivers Craig Lowndes and Glenn Seton endured
a tough second race in New Zealand, which was held in warm and partly cloudy
weather conditions.
The promise of a top ten starting position (8th) for the CAT FPR Falcon in
this race turned to despair when in the race's closing stages and with
Lowndes in 11th position, the engine began to run hot due to debris
collecting in the radiator duct. This led to the failure of an auxilliary
drive belt, forcing an unscheduled pit stop on lap 28, the team replacing
the belt and sending the 29 year old back to the track with one lap
remaining. Lowndes was classified 29th.
Ford Credit FPV Falcon driver Glenn Seton started the race from 29th on the
grid and had raced his way to to 22nd until the 12th lap, when he took
evasive action to avoid an impact with the hard braking Mark Winterbottom at
turn 6. This saw him briefly off the circuit with four flat-spotted tyres.
Seton pitted immediately for new tyres and drove a solid race from the rear
of the field to finish 21st.
The second race was won by Holden driver Jason Bright, followed by Greg
Murphy and Rick Kelly.
The third and final New Zealand V8 Supercar race is scheduled to start at
3:40pm local time (1:40pm EST). The most difficult thing to predict will be
the weather, with ever threatening rain clouds present at Pukekohe Park.
RACE THREE
Starting from 21st (Seton) and 29th (Lowndes) on the grid for the third and
final 36 lap race of the New Zealand round, the two FPR drivers raced at a
consistent pace, but it was clearly evident that problems were developing,
with both drivers struggling to progress through the field.
By lap 15 Seton had raced to 15th position, but by the same time his team
mate was 28th and soldiering without power steering, which was followed by
decreasing engine performance until his retirement from the race in the pits
with two laps remaining.
Seton defended position well during a number of mid field battles, finishing
the race in 22nd position.
While the threat of rain persisted, the third and final Pukekohe race
remained dry throughout.
Release Date: 02/05/2004
Ford Performance Racing
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