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SPECIAL

Ford Territory

SPECIAL

Ford Territory

Ingall Charges at Perth V8s

Staff, Monday May 9, 2005.

Page 1 of 1

Steve Richards took the win, his first since 2000. Ford finished with six cars in the top-10.

The result was Ingall's best at the circuit since he fished third in 1998. His win in the last race in his Caltex Falcon was his first ever V8 Supercar victory at the challenging WA circuit.

Ambrose's result came after an incident at the beginning of the second of three races when he and Mark Skaife came together at turn one. Skaife was left bogged in the sand while Ambrose managed to get out of the sand trap and rejoin the race - although a distant last.

A yellow flag soon after allowed Ambrose to stop and clear dirt from his front splitter. A lap later he was given a black flag for the first corner incident and forced to take a drive-through penalty.

Ambrose managed to stay on the lead lap through all of the drama and fought his way back to finish an amazing fifth, while Ingall was second behind Steve Richards.

A hearing after the race saw Ambrose further penalised 25 championship points when Investing and Prosecuting Officer Peter Wollerman decided to take the first corner incident further.

While Ambrose did not agree with the decision he says he has "accepted it" and wants to "move on".

Ambrose now leads the championship with 519 points from Ingall (508), round winner Richards (411) and Paul Weel (403).

In the third and final race of the weekend Ingall slotted into second place off the line behind Richards, while Ambrose lost one spot to be sixth.

Ingall made his compulsory stop on lap 10 and a lightning change of both rear wheels in 4.1 seconds enabled him to rejoin the track just metres ahead of Richards.

Ingall then managed to maintain his advantage over Richards for the next 48 laps; despite a safety car period on lap 39 after Brad Jones rolled his Falcon on its roof. Jones was not hurt in the accident.

Ambrose moved up to third place and needed to pass Richards to give Ingall the outright win for the weekend, but he did not have the car speed to achieve his goal.

Ingall was obviously delighted with his result at a circuit that has traditionally been tough on him in the past.

"I guess you could say that this weekend was very satisfying," said Ingall.

"The car was pretty good in the first couple of races, but it was close to perfect in the final race.

"That is a sign of me coming to grips with the car more and more.

"After a couple of years we are getting pretty close to working this out and the boys and I just work better together every race meeting.

"I had an amazing 4.1-second stop today which really gave me the spot in front of Richo (Richards) and eventually the race win.

"It's great to only be 11 points behind Marcos, although I would rather close the gap with race results than see Marcos penalised for something like that (first corner incident).

"While saying that, we will take it and really press on from here at a couple of tracks which should work well for us.

"It was a good day for Caltex Racing in the West."

Ambrose, who is chasing his third consecutive V8 Supercar title, was obviously very disappointed with the outcome of the weekend, although he managed to fight back for an outright podium position.

"It was certainly a different weekend," said Ambrose.

"I copped a stop-go penalty in race three and accepted it and then I got a 25-point penalty after the race.

"That was a big penalty considering that we are racing for two championship points per position out there.

"That said, I have accepted the decision and for the sake of our championship I have forgotten about it and just want to move on.

"We have a great battle going for the championship and we need to ensure we now focus on the next round and keep scoring points."

Today's results also mean that Stone Brothers Racing extends its lead in the teams' championship.

Along with Stone Brothers Racing, Westpoint Racing was the only other team to finish in thetop-10 with both cars. Steven Johnson finishing fourth overall and Glenn Seton seventh.

Steven Johnson was extremely happy with his weekend, one that started off with provisional pole on Friday.

?We needed to do this after our results in New Zealand,? said Johnson.

?To come here and be top of the time sheets on Friday not only lifted morale within the team, but gave us confidence.

?I got a good start this morning, like I did in the final race, had great pit stops and I was able to drive confidently.

?Things went our way this weekend which was good given the little problems we had early in the weekend and at other rounds this year.?

Glenn Seton also had a good run, but it didn?t come easy.

?It?s very difficult when you?ve got to come back through the pack, especially at Barbagallo,? Seton said.

?It?s great for the team, we both did well I thought and I think we?ve got a good future.

?I thoroughly enjoyed the racing and I challenged myself to get past a few of the guys, it was a pleasure to drive this weekend.

?I?m looking forward to getting to Eastern Creek with these cars because I think we?ve made some good headway this weekend.?

After a disappointing start to the year in Adelaide and New Zealand, Orrcon Racing?s Jason Bargwanna put in one of the best drives of the weekend. Despite qualifiying 25th, he claimed 10th in the opening race of the weekend. By the end he was fifth overall.

"The result this weekend was fantastic for the team, a real confidence boost," said Bargwanna.

"We have improved the car speed by over half a second a lap since last year around here but the biggest key to my result this weekend was the great pit stops by the crew and our race strategies."

Team BOC?s John Bowe put in a great effort to make his way through the pack to claim sixth overall.

?When the guys came across the radio to say I'd finished 6th overall I was amazed,? said Bowe

?It just goes to show that plugging away and keeping out of trouble pays off.

?It's a good result for us and whilst it's surprising, I'm really happy. It means we've had a 6th and 7th overall in the last two events.?

The V8 Supercar Championship Series heads back across the country for Sydney?s Eastern Creek on the final weekend of May.

OVERALL RESULTS
1. Steven Richards ? Castrol Perkins Racing ? Holden Commodore
2. Russell Ingall ? Caltex Racing ? Ford Falcon BA
3. Marcos Ambrose ? Pirtek Racing ? Ford Falcon BA
4. Steven Johnson ? Westpoint Racing ? Ford Falcon BA
5. Jason Bargwanna ? Orrcon Racing ? Ford Falcon BA
6. John Bowe ? Team BOC ? Ford Falcon BA
7. Glenn Seton ? Westpoint Racing ? Ford Falcon BA
8. Mark Skaife ? Holden Race Team ? Holden Commodore
9. Cameron McConville ? Valvoline Racing ? Holden Commodore
10. Paul Weel ? Super Cheap Auto Racing ? Holden Commodore

CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS AFTER 3 OF 13 ROUNDS
1. Marcos Ambrose ? Pirtek Racing ? Ford Falcon BA 519pts
2. Russell Ingall ? Caltex Racing ? Ford Falcon BA ?11pts
3. Steven Richards ? Castrol Perkins Racing ? Holden Commodore ?108pts
4. Paul Weel ? Super Cheap Auto Racing ? Holden Commodore ?116pts
5. Mark Skaife ? Holden Race Team ? Holden Commodore ?129pts
6=. Paul Radisich ? Team Kiwi ? Holden Commodore ?154pts
6=. Craig Lowndes ? Team Betta Electrical ? Ford Falcon BA ?154pts
8. Jason Bright ? CAT Ford Performance Racing ? Ford Falcon BA ? 155pts
9. Steven Johnson ? Westpoint Racing ? Ford Falcon BA ?166pts
10. Paul Morris ? Siromet Racing ? Holden Commodore ?179pts

TEAMS CHAMPIONSHIP
1: Stone Brothers Racing 1052pts
2: Super Cheap Auto Racing ?320pts
3: Holden Race Team ?338pts
4: Westpoint Racing ?369pts
5: Castrol Racing -458pts
6: Team Betta Electrical -463pts
7: HSV Dealer Team -478pts
8: Team BOC ?526pts
9: Dodo Racing -539pts
10: Repco Valvoline Cummins Team -570pts

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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