Solid opening practice day at Bathurst
8/10/2004 22:26 (Press Release) -
Ford Performance Racing (FPR) drivers Craig Lowndes, Glenn Seton, Alain Menu and Adam Macrow have completed a strong opening day of V8
Supercar practice at Mount Panorama, Bathurst.
CAT FPR Falcon drivers Lowndes and Seton were pleased with the balance of their car during today's three highly competitive practice sessions. Lowndes, the 1996 winner of the great race, set the fastest lap time of the four FPR drivers during today's first session of 2:10.0861s. Seton's best lap time today was 2:11.1142s. This early performance placed the FPR duo 10th overall for the day.
It was a difficult day for Ford Credit FPV Falcon driver Alain Menu, as the double British Touring Car Champion was suffering from the effects of a virus.
Following some medical attention in the morning, Menu's condition improved enough to complete a handful of timed laps during the second practice session. He used this to gain a feel for his car on the 6.3 kilometre Mount Panorama circuit.
Menu's co-driver, 1998 Australian Formula Ford Champion Adam Macrow, improved his lap times throughout the day, ending it with a best lap time of 2.11.1074s, placing the second FPR Falcon Bathurst duo 19th.
The early Bathurst pace was set by Holden driver and last year's winner Greg Murphy who topped the practice day timesheets (2:08.7906s) ahead of Ford driver Russell Ingall and Holden's Mark Skaife.
FPR is back on the Mount Panorama circuit at 9:25am tomorrow for the fourth and final practice session of the round ahead of qualifying at 2:00pm.
#6 Craig Lowndes - "The car is good, we have a couple of understeer and oversteer issues that are making it a bit nervous across the top of the mountain. I am happy with our progress today and with some changes overnight we should be faster tomorrow."
#6 Glenn Seton - "The car is OK for this early stage, we are chasing a couple of issues with the rear of the car which we will work on overnight. Overall the car was well balanced and we look forward to being faster tomorrow."
#5 Alain Menu - "I am very disappointed as I was looking forward to returning to Bathurst and I was keen to find out what I could do in the FPR Falcon today.I did a handful of timed laps today and it wasn't enough to accurately get a feel for what we can do. Hopefully I will get rid of whatever it is that I have very quickly and can set some fast times tomorrow. The most important thing is for me to be right for the race."
#5 Adam Macrow- "The car is in very good shape - I'm getting on top of it and I am cruising up to the speed that I need to be at without throwing it off the track. I know where I can be quicker and I think we can definitely be quick tomorrow."
FPR Chief Engineer, John Russell - "Our preparation went well today, Craig and Glenn had an uneventful and solid day. Adam did the majority of the driving in car 5 as Alain was ill - we hope he completely recovers tomorrow and we'll keep moving forward."
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