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Front Page
Ford Takes Strongest Ever Line-Up to Bathurst
Staff, Wednesday September 26, 2001.
Page 1 of 1
Ford?s line-up has 190 Bathurst starts for 10 wins with 13 drivers under the age of 30.
The team brimming with confidence going to Bathurst is Shell Helix Racing?s Steve Johnson and Paul Radisich.
Not only are they Ford?s highest placed drivers in the championship chase, they also have the runs on the board with victory at the recent VIP Pet Foods Queensland 500 endurance event.
?Bathurst is the ultimate race in Australia,? said Steve Johnson.
?Individually Paul and I have both come close to winning at Bathurst, so combined we are very confident of doing the job this year.
?Queensland was the first time we have driven together - we won there and doing it again at Bathurst will give our title hopes a massive boost.?
Bathurst carries 540 championship points each to the winning drivers, compared to 90 points for a sprint race win.
?I don?t think you need a championship to motivate you at Bathurst,? said Radisich.
?It?s a very special place and winning it will only be achieved by both Steve and I doing a great job on the track, as well as our crew backing us up with first class preparation and pit work during the race.
?Steve and I have won two races each this year, so we do have some very good form and I?m very excited of our chances of winning.?
Bathurst will see new cars for Ford Tickford Racing and Gibson Motorsport, as well as a new entry for Ford with Bud Racing making their debut in Australia?s premier motor racing championship.
1996 Bathurst winner Craig Lowndes and the experienced Neil Crompton will drive the Gibson Motorsport car.
?This is the first Falcon AUXR8 built in the Gibson workshop and following some detailed testing it feels extremely good,? said Craig Lowndes.
?We have also updated the paint scheme on the car to an even more stunning look than we have had all year.
?There is definitely a lot of excitement in the team and when you are confident good things are sure to happen.?
If there?s a Ford driver overdue for victory at Bathurst it?s Glenn Seton. Like the Gibson team he and co-driver Steve Richards will have a new set of wheels on October 7.
?It?s been pretty much 12 months in the building of this car,? said Seton.
?The first test is usually a case of tweaking things to get it right - but straight out of the box it?s a rocket!
?I?m really looking forward to Bathurst. I?ve got a two-time winner in Steve partnering me, as well as a team that is extremely motivated to taking FTR?s first win on the Mountain.
Despite not having run a V8 race before as a team, Bud Racing has gone to great lengths to being successful at Bathurst.
Talented young driver Mark Noske as well as V8 Supercar regular Craig Baird will drive the #888 Falcon
?It?s been a year in the planning for this one race,? said Noske.
?We have tested extensively and even ran two days of practice in the Konica round in South Australia.
?Although we have not actually raced, the team has learnt an awful lot since the start of the year and we are ready to take on Bathurst.
Teams will hit the track from Thursday 4 October for practice, with qualifying on Friday and a top-15 shootout on the Saturday. The V8 Bathurst 1000 gets underway from 10am Sunday.
An informal media luncheon outlining the future plans of Ford Racing will be held from 12.30pm on Saturday 6 October in the Ford Corporate suite above the Mount Panorama Media Centre. An RSVP is essential, so please contact Ben Beazley if you can attend.
Top-10 Championship Standings after 10 of 13 rounds
| 1. Mark Skaife | 2,498 pts | ||
| 2. Jason Bright | 2,371 pts | ||
| 3. Russell Ingall | 2,281 pts | ||
| 4. Steve Johnson | Shell Helix Racing | Ford Falcon AUXR8 | 2,217 pts |
| 5. Greg Murphy | 1,842 pts | ||
| 6. Paul Radisich | Shell Helix Racing | Ford Falcon AUXR8 | 1,836 pts |
| 7. Todd Kelly | 1,644 pts | ||
| 8. Marcos Ambrose | Pirtek Racing | Ford Falcon AUXR8 | 1,611 pts |
| 9. Garth Tander | 1,479 pts | ||
| 10. Steve Ellery |
Super Cheap Auto Racing | Ford Falcon AUXR8 | 1,477 pts |
Ford?s official line-up
| Craig Lowndes / Neil Crompton | - | Gibson Motorsport | #00 |
| Marcos Ambrose / Wayne Wakefield | - | Pirtek Racing | #4 |
| Glenn Seton /Steve Richards | - | Ford Tickford Racing | #5 |
| Jim Richards / Dean Canto | - | Ford Tickford Racing | #6 |
| David Besnard /Matthew White | - | Caltex Havoline Racing | #9 |
| Mark Larkham / Wayne Gardner | - | Larkham Motorsport | #10 |
| Steve Johnson / Paul Radisich | - | Shell Helix Racing | #17 |
| Cameron McLean / Greg Ritter | - | Shell Helix Racing | #18 |
| Bradley Jones / John Cleland | - | OzEmail Racing | #21 |
| Steve Ellery /Geoff Brabham | - | Super Cheap Auto Racing | #31 |
| Paul Weel /Tim Leahey | - | K & J Thermal Products Racing | #43 |
| John Bowe / Simon Wills | - | CAT Racing | #600 |
| Mark Noske / Craig Baird | - | Bud Racing | #888 |
Ford Racing driver statistics are available at: www.segalmedia.com.au
Details for Round 11 of the 2001 Shell Championship Series:
| Top-15 Shootout | Saturday 6 October | - | 10.45am |
| Race (161 laps - 1000.293km) | Sunday 7 October | - | 10am |
| Circuit: | Mount Panorama, Bathurst | ||
| Length: | 6.213km | ||
| Lap Record: | 2m. 09.8945s (qualifying) - Skaife (1998) | ||
| 2m. 12.3398s (race) - Perkins (1997) | |||
| Estimated top speed: | 295 km/h - Conrod Straight | ||
For further information contact:
Ben Beazley
Media Coordinator
Ford Racing
Phone: (03) 9533 4455
Mobile: 0417-262 753
Email: ben@segalmedia.com.au
Howard Marsden
General Manager
Ford Racing
Phone: (03) 9359 8461
