FORD: Ford chases first enduro of the year at Sandown
8/9/2003 18:10 (Press Release) -
Ford will be out to score its eighth straight V8 Supercar Championship round win of the year and its third straight 500km crown at the Betta Electrical Sandown 500 this weekend in Melbourne.
The BA Falcon has been the car to catch in 2003, especially Pirtek Racing’s Marcos Ambrose who has claimed five of the seven wins to lead the championship standings.
Ford has won the two previous 500km endurance races at Queensland with Paul Radisich and Steve Johnson (Shell Helix Racing) in 2001 and David Besnard and Simon Wills (Caltex Havoline Racing) in 2002.
The return of the 500km race to Sandown International Raceway has received widespread acceptance and with no AFL finals matches in Melbourne this weekend, a strong spectator turnout is expected.
Like Bathurst, Sandown is a two-driver race and Ambrose will be joined by teammate, and winner of the Queensland 300, Russell Ingall.
The pair come in to the race as the hottest of favourites, but Ambrose is fully aware that endurance racing is a whole new ball game.
“Sandown is going to need a different approach in and out of the car,” said Ambrose.
“We will drive my car from this year, but to accommodate both of us, Russell and I do have to compromise a little for each other in terms of the set-up in the car.
“In saying that we’re going into the race very confident, we’ve prepared well with testing last week and we know that the car will be strong.
“I have not won an endurance race in my career and Russell has won both Sandown and Bathurst, so he’s the perfect partner for an attack Sandown this weekend.”
Ingall sits fourth in the championship standings and sees the opportunity of driving with Ambrose as a great boost to his title chances.
“Having us together means that I can make ground on the other title challengers,” said Ingall.
“It does also present a risk as we’re putting all our title hopes in the one car, but if we want to win we have to be together, so the decision was pretty simple.
“I’m looking forward to this weekend as I won the last 500 at Sandown in 1998, Marcos won the round at Sandown last year and the Stone Brothers Racing team won the last 500 in Queensland.”
The two driver format has seen a number of international drivers drafted into service for this weekend.
Leading the way is UK-based sportscar driver David Brabham (Shell Helix Racing) and European touring car ace Rickard Rydell (Team Betta Electrical) from Sweden.
Brabham will partner Brazilian Max Wilson, with Rydell sharing the driving with former British touring car counterpart Paul Radisich.
“This is a very competitive series and it’s great to have a guy with as much international experience as Rickard in the car,” said Radisich.
“You can’t afford to have a co-driver who’s even a couple of tenths of a second off the pace. They need to be fast and able to mix it with the V8 regulars.
“Rickard has tested with us and it’s all looking pretty strong.”
Teams hit the track on Friday for practice, before further practice, qualifying and the Top Ten Shootout on Saturday. Sunday’s 161-lap race starts at 1pm.
--Ford press release
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