Turning the tide in Sydney
14/8/2004 15:19 (Press Release) -
The 2004 Australian V8 Supercar Championship battle continues at Sydney's Oran Park Raceway this weekend, with FPR Falcon drivers Craig Lowndes and Glenn Seton planning to continue the team's trend of strong performances at this fast and technical 2.6 km circuit.
CAT FPR Falcon driver Lowndes holds the Oran Park lap record and raced to second place at this round last season. Ford Credit FPV Falcon driver Glenn Seton has raced into the top five on no less than ten visits to the popular Sydney circuit.
With Team FPR's focus remaining firmly on constant improvement during the second half of the V8 Supercar season, this round will no doubt play an important part in the team's engine and race car development.
Sunday's two 54 lap races to decide the round are sure to be close fought battles with strategy playing an important part in the overall round results.
Consistency and reliability are the key targets for both FPR Falcons at Oran Park this weekend. Notwithstanding the issues with Craig's car at Winton, the race pace the team displayed was competitive and team aims to build on this in Sydney this weekend.
FPR Chief Engineer John Russell once again takes on the role of race engineer for Craig Lowndes, with FPR Senior Race Engineer Dave Paterson continuing his race engineering role for Glenn Seton at Oran Park.
#6 Craig Lowndes - "Oran Park has been kind me in the past and we have had good high speed set ups there in the past. I am looking forward to racing there and turning our season around. This is a great circuit, there are lots of variations and it is particularly exciting racing under and over the bridge - I have no doubt that these will be two great races."
#5 Glenn Seton - "My career started at Oran Park and I have done a great deal of racing there. It is a highly enjoyable circuit to race at, its undulation and high speed corners make it challenging and unique. Coming from a top ten finish at Winton, the challenge at Oran Park will be to qualify in the top ten and to perform strongly in the races to move me into the Championship top ten."
FPR Chief Engineer, John Russell - "The team looks forward to racing at Oran Park and putting recent events behind us. In 2003 the team proved to be quite competitive at this round and we look forward to a change in form."
FPR will be on the track for opening practice on Friday at 2:00pm, with practice and qualifying taking place on Saturday and two 54 lap races scheduled on Sunday.
FPR ORAN PARK FACT FILE
Ford Performance Racing has racked up a quartet of podium results in its last five appearances in NSW. The streak includes four second places (Eastern Creek, April 2003; Oran Park, August 2003; Bathurst, October 2003; and Eastern Creek, 2004). The four podiums were punctuated by a fourth place finish at the Eastern Creek season finale last December.
Craig Lowndes has never finished lower than eighth at Oran Park in a round of the V8 Supercar Championship Series or the ATCC. On five of those occasions, Lowndes scored a podium result. This includes a round victory in 1998.
Glenn Seton has an impressive overall record at Oran Park - in seventeen appearances at the Sydney track, he's finished in the top ten on thirteen occasions. Ten of these were top five results.
Craig Lowndes has never finished any Sydney V8 Supercar round outside the top ten. In fifteen Championship starts at Oran Park and Eastern Creek, Lowndes has finished on the podium on ten occasions.
2004 is the 20th anniversary of Glenn Seton's first championship appearance at Oran Park, which was in a Ford Capri in 1984.
Lowndes will be hoping his pattern of scoring pole position every third year at Oran Park will continue. He qualified fastest in 1998 and again three years later in 2001.
2004 also marks the 10th anniversary of Glenn Seton's victory in the 1994 Championship's Oran Park round.
2004 will be the 34th consecutive year that Sydney's Oran Park Raceway has hosted a ATCC / V8 Supercar round - which is a record for the series. The Narellan (NSW) circuit first hosted a ATCC / V8 Supercar round in 1971.
FPR MEDIA DIARY - ORAN PARK
Thursday Aug 12, - 7:30am - 9:30am
Craig Lowndes and Glenn Seton at the Ford Superbreakfast - Westin Hotel, 1 Martin Place, Sydney. All media welcome.
Friday Aug. 13 - 10:30am - 11:00am
Ford Performance Vehicles Remote Control Car Challenge
Craig Lowndes & Glenn Seton take to radio controlled FPV cars at the Oran Park Skidpan, Oran Park Raceway - V8 Supercar or Oran Park Accredited Media Only.
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