CATEGORIES

• Ask ColCam
• Commercials
• Full Ford
• Going Ford
• Industry News
• My Wheels
• Racing
• Events
• Test Drive
• Ford Dealer List

SPECIAL

Ford Territory

SPECIAL

Ford Territory

Wilson Leads Ford Charge in NZ V8 Qualifying

Staff, Friday November 7, 2003.

Page 1 of 1

Defending two-time New Zealand race champion Greg Murphy set a new qualifying lap record to be fastest ahead of Mark Skaife and Jason Bright.

Just behind Wilson was CAT Ford Performance Racing's Craig Lowndes, with Marcos Ambrose (Pirtek Racing) qualifying sixth, Jason Bargwanna (Orrcon Steel Racing) qualified for the shootout for the first time in 2003 (eighth) and local favourite Paul Radisich (Team Betta Electrical) in ninth.

Wilson, Lowndes, Ambrose and Bargwanna all qualified from the slower half of the field after slower than expected performances in the two practice sessions in the morning.

Wilson experienced a number of minor mechanical problems in the morning sessions, but set the pace from just his third lap in the afternoon's qualifying.

"The car really was not that good this morning and the second practice I only really got a handful of laps," said Wilson.

"The boys gave me a really good car for qualifying and it was great to set such a fast time straight away.

"We're in the shootout tomorrow and I'm looking forward to another good lap before the first race in the afternoon."

Lowndes was pleased with his performance and is sure there's more to come.

"We didn't have a great selection of tyres for practice and we didn't want to use fresh tyres until qualifying," said Lowndes.

"Once we had a fresh set of rubber on the car, it improved dramatically and we're looking pretty good.

"With three races over the weekend we'll need to take care of the tyres and at the moment everything is travelling nicely."

After a struggle during practice in the morning, Ambrose started qualifying well down the order, before some suspension changes helped him vault into the top-10.

"We really don't have a good supply of tyres to practice on and we went for a slightly wrong set-up for qualifying," said Ambrose.

"We knew what needed to be changed and once that was done we got it up there.

"Qualifying in the first group was difficult because I wasn't sure how much quicker the second group would be.

"However, Max and Craig set a very good pace and I knew that being close to them should get us in the top-10. I was pretty nervous watching the other session, as there were a lot of good cars that didn't even make the 10.

"In terms of the championship, we're here for the fight and I'm looking forward to the races."

The day's action was not limited to the quick times on the track, with the morning's practice session highlighted by a massive rollover accident to Jason Richards.

Richards was left with very minor cuts and bruises from the accident that occurred when his car was launched into the air after he spun off the track and struck a set of safety tyres. The tyres were placed on the edge of the turn two to stop cars from cutting the corner.

All following cars stopped at the scene to assist Richards. All teams immediately expressed concern over the use of the tyres as a safety device and that they would remain for this weekend's races.

Tomorrow's top-10 shootout is set down for 11.55am, with the opening 36-lap race at 2.35pm.

Top-10 Qualifying

For further information contact:
Ben Beazley
Media Manager
Ford Racing Australia
Phone: 03 9359 8901
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

Previous Article: Ford Sales Go From Strength to Strength
Next Article: Ford Gets Fit