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Challenging Weekend for Ford in China

Staff, Tuesday June 14, 2005.

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Marcos Ambrose (Pirtek Racing) has maintained his V8 Supercar Championship Series lead ahead of teammate Russell Ingall (Caltex Racing) despite a challenging weekend at the historic round in Shanghai (China).

Ambrose finished fifth overall, despite a tough weekend that included a drive-through penalty for a pitlane infringement in the final race.

The round was won by Todd Kelly ahead of Steven Richards, with Paul Raidisich in third.

The race drew a Sunday crowd of around 75,000 spectators. The interest of V8 Supercars more than captured the attention of the Shanghai public.

?The pit stop was a bit rushed because we were trying to get in front of the two race leaders who were also in pit lane,? said Ambrose.

?When the car dropped, which is my signal to go, we did not have enough ?blend? time to get in front of Richards and it was either hit him or hit the cone at the pit exit.

?I decided to hit the cone. I tried to re-address the situation by stopping and letting Richards and Todd Kelly by me on the exit of the pit lane, but the stewards decided I needed to pay a bigger penalty.

?We had more car speed in the final race than we had had all weekend and I think we certainly could have finished on the podium.

?I guess it is pleasing to extend the championship lead, although ?Richo? has closed the gap a bit on Russell (Ingall) who is a few points behind me.

?I think we learnt a lot as the weekend progressed here and I think we would certainly be in a better position if we were to race here again next weekend.

?I am now looking forward to Hidden Valley in Darwin and Queensland Raceway where I have had some great results before.?

A solid round for Ford Performance Racing earned them seventh (Jason Bright ? CAT Ford Performance Racing) and ninth (Greg Ritter ? Ford Credit / FPV Ford Performance Racing).

Bright?s only drama came in the second race when he was in a first corner clash and lost another 16 second for extra repairs during his pit stop. He fought back in the final race to finish seventh.

?If not for the first corner accident this would have been a brilliant round for us,? said Bright.

?We improved the car substantially over the weekend and while there?s more that we can improve on, I?m pleased with our performance here in Shanghai.

?This is a great circuit, it?s both challenging and rewarding. It was fantastic to see so many locals come out and enjoy the action.?

Greg Ritter was turned around in race #1, but a decision to keep him out on track longer than anyone else in race #2 paid dividends as he vaulted into the top-10. He was able to maintain that form in the final race.

?It?s good to nail a top-10 finish to the weekend after some dramas in the opening race,? said Ritter.

?We have really enjoyed racing here this weekend. Shanghai has been a totally new experience both culturally and the facility itself was just awesome.?

Ingall was in line for a top-10 finish, but was hit from behind by Mark Skaife and lost two laps trapped in a sand trap. He finished 13th overall for the weekend and Skaife received a drive-through penalty for the incident.

There were plenty of hard luck stories amongst the Ford teams. Craig Lowndes, who finished fourth in the first race, blew a clutch in the second race and had to retire with radiator damage after a collision in the final race.

Westpoint Racing teammates Steve Johnson and Glenn Seton both were the victims of other people?s actions. Both were set for finishes well inside the top-10, but were hit by other cars in separate incidents at the tight hairpin at the end of the long back straight.

The most serious incident of the weekend involved Mark Winterbottom (Orrcon Steel Racing).

On the eighth lap of the opening race he hit a steel drain grate. The grate measuring 240mm X 480mm and weighing 20 kg?s was extruding from the ground by over 200mm after it had been moved by another car exiting turn five on the circuit.

As Winterbottom exited the turn he hit the grate at 130km/h slicing through the front Kevlar splitter and impacting on the radiator and the engine sump.

The grate sliced through the floor tray impacting with the bottom and rear of the driver?s seat before gauging a hole immediately behind the seat.

This gouge measures a massive 200 x 800mm and almost sliced through Winterbottom?s carbon fibre seat.

Such was the ferocity of the great that is has also sliced the roll bar cross member in half like a carbon tipped saw.

?It made a huge thud inside the car but I didn?t feel the brunt of the impact as it lifted my car of the ground,? said Winterbottom.

?I knew it had done a fair bit of damage but it wasn?t we got the car back to the garage that I had a look in the back of the car and seen how much damage was done inside the car.

?The grate impacted on my seat, but only just, it wasn?t until I woke up this morning that it hit me and I realized how lucky I really was to escape uninjured.?

The damage repair bill is expected to reach in excess of $75,000 with the components that are required to either be replaced or repaired as follows:

- Front spoiler
- Intake duct
- Front cross member
- Radiator
- Heat exchanger
- Steering rack
- Front roll bar and mounts
- Right and side exhaust
- Driver?s seat
- Seat belts
- Oil cooler
- Differential housing
- Watts Linkage arm assembly
- Floor from driver?s seat to rear fire wall
- Front & Rear roll bar cables
- Fuel cell box
- Internal roll cage
- Engine sump

The V8 Supercar Circus is now loaded back onto two 747-400 freighters and will be back in Australia by next Saturday.

The championship will reconvene in Darwin in three weeks time for the Skycity V8 Supercar round at Hidden Valley July 1-3.

Shanghai ? Overall Results

1. Todd Kelly ? Holden Racing Team ? Holden Commodore
2. Steven Richards ? Castrol Perkins Motorsport ? Holden Commodore
3. Paul Radisich ? Team Kiwi ? Holden Commodore
4. Jamie Whincup ? Dodo Racing ? Holden Commodore
5. Marcos Ambrose ? Pirtek Racing ? Ford Falcon BA
6. Mark Skaife ? Holden Racing Team ? Holden Commodore
7. Jason Bright ? CAT Ford Performance Racing ? Ford Falcon
8. Cameron McConville ? Valvoline Racing ? Holden Commodore
9. Greg Ritter ? Ford Credit / FPV Ford Performance Racing ? Ford Falcon BA
10. Paul Dumbrell ? Autobarn Racing ? Holden Commodore

Championship Standings after 5 of 13 rounds

1. Marcos Ambrose ? Pirtek Racing ? Ford Falcon BA - 862pts
2. Russell Ingall ? Caltex Racing ? Ford Falcon BA ? 81pts
3. Steven Richards ? Castrol Perkins Motorsport ? Holden Commodore ? 91pts
4. Mark Skaife ? Holden Racing Team ? Holden Commodore ? 172pts
5. Todd Kelly ? Holden Racing Team ? Holden Commodore ? 182pts
6. Craig Lowndes ? Team Betta Electrical ? Ford Falcon BA ? 250pts
7. Greg Murphy ? Super Cheap Auto Racing ? Holden Commodore ? 258pts
8. Paul Radisich ? Team Kiwi ? Holden Commodore ? 279pts
9. Steven Johnson ? Westpoint Racing ? Ford Falcon BA ? 297pts
10. John Bowe ? Team BOC ? Ford Falcon BA ? 299pts

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

Further information and high-resolution images relating to Ford Racing Australia can also be found at : media.ford.com

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