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SPECIAL

Ford Territory

SPECIAL

Ford Territory

Ford out to Repeat 1-2-3 at Sandown

Staff, Monday September 5, 2005.

Page 1 of 1

Situated in Melbourne's south-east, Sandown has been a popular track for Ford teams and fans over 40 years of racing.

One of the highlights came just last year when the Blue Oval claimed the entire podium with a memorable 1-2-3 result.

Marcos Ambrose (Pirtek Racing) combined with Greg Ritter, to beat home Russell Ingall and Cameron McLean (Caltex Racing), with Steven Johnson and Warren Luff (Dick Johnson Racing) in third.

Another victory would give Ford three straight round wins, after Craig Lowndes (Team Betta Electrical) won at Queensland Raceway and Ingall took the chequered flag at Oran Park (NSW).

Victory at Sandown would push Ford in front for the Manufacturers' title heading into Australia's Great Race, the Super Cheap Auto 1000 at Bathurst.

Like Bathurst, Sandown is an endurance race where two drivers share time behind the wheel. The addition of 14 drivers to the Ford Racing line-up has brought the best talent from around Australia and across the globe to the Sandown event.

With the exception of Western Australia and the Northern Territory, every other state as well as the ACT has representation in Ford's official line-up. Adding to this are highly regarded drivers from France, Switzerland, England, Scotland and New Zealand.

Sandown has always brought close and exciting racing. The notorious Melbourne weather usually shows its hand at some stage. Two years ago a massive storm drowned the circuit with drivers having to negotiate hail stones as well as 500km of racing!

Defending two-time Series champion and winner of last year's Betta Electrical 500, Marcos Ambrose, knows the importance of teamwork in endurance racing. Ambrose will drive with third place finisher from last year Warren Luff.

"Success in V8 Supercar endurance racing comes down to a total team effort," said Ambrose.

"You have to have faith not just in your own abilities, but that of your co-driver's and the entire crew in the pits.

"We made our endurance driver plans right back at the start of the year. Through testing over the last few months we've been able to confirm our line-up and now we're all confident of having a shot at winning again this year.

"Warren was one of the stars at Sandown last year, driving through to third place. With Luke Youlden sharing the driving duties in Russell's car, our team would have to have one of the strongest line-ups without having to combine the two regular drivers.

"I really want to win this race and extend our championship lead. Bathurst is the following race and you can never make predictions up there.

"We've had great speed at Sandown pretty much for four years now. We clearly have a handle for the track. Our cars have plenty of power and spot-on handling for the circuit. We are really excited about heading back to Sandown."

Another team that's always in the running during the endurance rounds is Dick Johnson's Westpoint Racing. Like the Stone Brothers team of Ambrose and Ingall, they have split their regular drivers Steven Johnson and Glenn Seton.

Johnson will combine with the highly regarded Will Davison, while Seton will drive with current V8 Development Series Championship leader Dean Canto.

"We are very pleased with our line-up heading into Sandown," said Johnson.

"I think Westpoint Racing has a great shot at getting on the podium again.

"Our testing lap times are all similar and we are well suited to each other, in and out of the car. We are very happy with the final pairings.

"In terms of the championship it's a good move for us. I'm currently sitting in 10th and Glenn 11th in the driver's title, but Westpoint Racing is placed third in the Team's Cup. Having two strong cars at Sandown and then Bathurst will be important for us to improve on that position.

"500 kilometres is a along way, if we can steer clear of any on-track incidents and we keep to our strategy, which has always been strong at Sandown, we have the package to do well."

Ford teams have a busy week ahead of them in Melbourne. On Tuesday drivers will visit the Ford factory in Broadmeadows. On Thursday all 28 drivers will be at the Ford V8 Superbreakfast at the MCG Members Dining Room. That same day they will visit staff at Ford's Geelong Plant.

Teams finally hit the track from Friday for a two-hour practice session, followed by a co-drivers only session in the afternoon. Qualifying and a top-10 shootout will be run on Saturday. Sunday's 161-lap race starts at 1pm.

Details for Sandown:
Top-10 Shootout - Saturday 10 September ? 2.30pm
Race (161 laps ? 500.71km) ? Sunday 11 September ? 1pm

Circuit: Sandown International Raceway (Victoria)
Length: 3.11km

Ford?s V8 Line-up for Sandown*

*Driver pairings for each team may change for the race.

Championship Standings after 8 of 13 rounds

1. Marcos Ambrose ? Pirtek Racing ? Ford Falcon BA 1346pts
2. Russell Ingall ? Caltex Racing ? Ford Falcon BA ?106pts
3. Steven Richards ? Castrol Perkins Motorsport ? Holden Commodore ?123pts
4. Craig Lowndes ? Team Betta Electrical ? Ford Falcon BA ?277pts
5. Todd Kelly ? Holden Racing Team ? Holden Commodore ?281pts
6. Mark Skaife ? Holden Racing Team ? Holden Commodore ?332pts
7. Greg Murphy ? Super Cheap Auto Racing ? Holden Commodore -338pts
8. Garth Tander ? HSV Dealer Team ? Holden Commodore -382pts
9. Jason Bright ? CAT Ford Performance Racing ? Ford Falcon BA -422pts
10. Steven Johnson ? Westpoint Racing ? Ford Falcon BA ?428pts

For Further information contact:
Ben Beazley
Media Coordinator
Ford Racing Australia
Phone: 03 9359 8190
Mobile: 0417 262 753
Email: bbeazle3@ford.com

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