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SPECIAL

Ford Territory

SPECIAL

Ford Territory

Ambrose and Ingall Complete 1-2 V8 Championship Sweep!

Staff, Monday December 6, 2004.

Page 1 of 1

It?s the first time since Glenn Seton and Alan Jones in 1993, that Ford teammates have finished 1-2 in the championship.

To complete a great weekend for Ford, Ambrose won the round with victory in all three races ahead of Paul Radisich (Team Betta Electrical) and Russell Ingall in third. It was Ford?s first clean-sweep of the podium since the Sandown 500 in September.

Ambrose was simply in a class of his own, controlling each of the three races. His 27-second winning margin in the final race underlined his dominance of the weekend.

?It was pretty much the perfect weekend for me, Russell, the team and all the Ford fans, ?said Ambrose.

?To be there at the end in front of all those people with Russell and the team was an amazing experience. The emotion of achieving what we have this weekend and this year has been awesome.

?I?m so happy for Russell to come through and give us the 1-2 in the championship. Last night I was thrilled for myself. Today, I?m glad to have the round but even more delighted with the result for the team.

?From the driver?s seat I couldn?t have asked for any more. The car was great, even after crashing on Friday. It was a true testimony to our preparation and determination to hit back in qualifying and the races.

?To complete my fourth season in V8 Supercars with two championships is just fantastic. I gave myself a five-year plan of achieving a championship. Despite having won two, I?m even more determined to get three.

?After winning last year I wanted to really enjoy this year. I have enjoyed the year and my passion has got even stronger. Having all the support around country is a very humbling experience and is something that makes you even more determined to give it everything.

?With Russell and I backing-up for our third season together next year our teams is stable and strong. The important thing is that no one in the team is complacent and we are going to give it all next year. I know that Russell will be tough, but that?s great for our team and all the Ford fans.

?I?m going to enjoy the break, then come February we?ll start it all up again for the first race at the Grand Prix in March.?

For Russell Ingall it was a case that you never give up. Despite a slow stop in race #1, a drive through penalty for pitlane speeding in race #2, it was classic Enforcer in race #3 as he hounded archrival Mark Skaife. The battle had everyone on the edge of their seats, but Skaife was able to hold off Ingall.

In terms of the overall position for the weekend it mattered little, as Ingall was still able to finish third overall, as his championship rivals Greg Murphy and Jason Bright struggled.

Despite being the fourth time he?s finished runner-up in the championship, Ingall was thrilled to round out the 1-2 championship result.

?Just awesome for the whole crew to be 1-2 in the championship,? said Ingall.

?We?ve had our dramas through the year, but over the final two rounds we?ve been great. So to round out the year is a massive bonus, not just for the result of this year but also going into the off-season and into 2005.

?It was another crazy weekend, but it shows you should never give up and the boys backed me up all the way in the pits.

?That last race was a classic Ingall/Skaife battle. I can tell you I was determined to get by, but the crew kept me in the loop about the championship situation. I kept the pressure up hoping to force him into an error, but he kept it straight.

?I?m determined to get it all together next year. However, I have a teammate who has the complete package; he prepares well, tests well, practices well, qualifies well and when it comes to racing - he?s the class of the field.?

Paul Radisich rounded out his career with Team Betta Electrical in great fashion with second overall for the round.

?Great way to finish my time with the team and Ford,? said Radisich.

?It was clearly a very special weekend for Ford and to be part of that has been great.

?This year we?ve had plenty of dramas, but I?m pleased to be leaving on the right note.

?Today I had the opportunity to race with Marcos. I can tell you he?s a great driver and his team has a great racecar. He?s going to be tough to beat next year.?

Craig Lowndes (CAT Ford Performance Racing) was inline to finish second overall, but an engine failure with six laps remaining in the final race robbed him of that chance.

Ambrose?s final statistics for year read five wins, to make it 13 for his career from 52 starts.

For Ford it was round six wins for the year, with Ingall winning in Tasmania.

Ford finished with five drivers in the top-10 of the championship, with Jason Bargwanna (Orrcon Steel Racing) in eighth, John Bowe (OzEmail Racing) in ninth and rounding out the 10 was Steven Johnson (Shell Helix Racing).

The V8 Supercars will reconvene for the Australian Grand Prix support event in Melbourne on the first weekend of March.

Top-10 Overall ? BigPond V8 Grand Finale ? Eastern Creek

Top-10 Championship

For Further information contact:
Ben Beazley
Media Coordinator
Ford Racing Australia
Phone: 03 9359 8190
Mobile: 0417 262 753
Email: benb@global-marketing.com

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