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Ford Chases First Enduro of the Year at Sandown

Staff, Monday September 8, 2003.

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Ford will be out to score its eighth straight V8 Supercar Championship round win of the year and its third straight 500 kilometre 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 500-kilometre 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 500-kilometre 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 top10 shootout on Saturday. Sunday?s 161-lap race starts at 1pm.

Championship Standings after 8 of 13 rounds

1. Marcos Ambrose ? Pirtek Racing ? Ford Falcon BA 1351pts
2. Jason Bright ? Team Brock ? Holden Commodore 1279pts
3. Greg Murphy ? KMart Racing ? Holden Commodore 1233pts
4. Russell Ingall ? Caltex Havoline Racing ? Ford Falcon BA 1163pts
5. Mark Skaife ? Holden Race Team ? Holden Commodore 1145pts
6. Paul Weel ? Team Brock ? Holden Commodore 1109pts
7. Craig Lowndes ? CAT Ford Performance Racing ? Ford Falcon BA 1094pts
8. Steven Richards ? Castrol Perkins Racing ? Holden Commodore 1052pts
9. Garth Tander ? Valvoline Racing ? Holden Commodore 1002pts
10. Rick Kelly ? KMart Racing ? Holden Commodore 952pts

Details for Sandown Raceway
Top 10 Shootout ? Saturday 13 September ? 3pm
Race (161 laps ? 499.1km) ? Sunday 14 September1pm

Circuit: Sandown International Raceway, Melbourne
Length: 3.1km
Lap Records:
Qualifying ? Ambrose 1:10.872 (2002)
Shootout ? Ambrose 1:11.0674 (2002)
Race ? Lowndes 1:11.6500 (1999)

Estimated top speed: 260km/h ? Front and Back Straights
Estimated average speed: 150 km/h

Ford?s V8 Line-up for Sandown
#4 Marcos Ambrose (Tas) / Russell Ingall (SA) ? Pirtek Racing
#9 Mark Noske (Vic) / Mark Winterbottom (NSW) ? Caltex Havoline Racing
#5 David Besnard (NSW) / Owen Kelly (Tas) - Ford Credit Ford Performance Racing
#6 Craig Lowndes (Vic) / Glenn Seton (NSW) ? CAT Ford Performance Racing
#19 Adam Macrow (Vic) / Darren Hossack (Vic) - FPV Ford Performance Racing
#10 Mark Larkham (NSW) / Jason Bargwanna (NSW) - Orrcon Steel Racing
#20 Kerry Wade (WA) / Grant Johnston (WA) - Orrcon Steel Racing
#17 Steve Johnson (Qld) / Warren Luff (NSW) - Shell Helix Racing
#18 Max Wilson (Brazil) / David Brabham (Qld) - Shell Helix Racing
#21 Brad Jones (NSW) / John Bowe (Tas) - OzEmail Race Team
#888 Andrew Jones (NSW) / John Cleland (Scotland) - OzEmail Race Team
#23 Neal Bates (ACT) / Rick Bates (ACT) - INXS Team Ford
#31 Steve Ellery (Qld) / Luke Youlden (Vic) - Super Cheap Auto Racing
#65 Paul Radisich (NZ) / Rickard Rydell (Sweden) - Team Betta Electrical
#66 Dean Canto (NSW) / Matthew White (Vic) - Team Betta Electrical
#75 Anthony Tratt (NSW) / Paul Stokell (Tas) - Toll Racing

For further information contact:
Ben Beazley
Media Coordinator
Ford Racing Australia
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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