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FPR races to top five championship finish at Phillip Island |
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Sunday, 02 December 2007 |
Ford Performance Racing (FPR) has raced to a top five Championship result
in the final round of the 2007 Australian V8 Supercar Championship
after three stongly contested sprint races that made up the Dunlop
Grand Finale at Victoria's Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit.
Orrcon Ford
Credit FPR Falcon driver Mark Winterbottom's three race results of 7th, 4th and
5th netted him 6th overall for the round and sealed his 5th place finish in the
2007 V8 Supercar Drivers' Championship. Castrol FPR Falcon driver Steve Richards
recovered well in both of today's two races after starting from the
rear of the field and making up 15 positions to finish 12th in race two and 9th
in race three. Richards' results sealed his 7th place 2007 Championship
result.
FPR displayed strong pace throughout the three Phillip Island
races, with disappointing qualifying results of 8th (Winterbottom) and 12th
(Richards) dictating a tough run for a possible sixth podium finish of the
season. The Prodrive team has finished a close fourth in the V8 Supercar
Teams' Championship after a season long battle with rival factory supported team
HRT.
The 2007 Drivers' Championship was won by Garth Tander after three
challenging races with Ford drivers Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes,
who finished second (by two points) and third.
#5 Mark
Winterbottom - "We used all of our tyres in the first two races and I
flat-spotted a tyre in qualifying, so we didn't have the tyres we needed and I
was struggled for rear grip during the final
race and couldn't move forward. We still held out to
finish fifth and take a solid 5th place in the Championship. All in all it has
been a very good season, I am proud of the Pole award that we gained but a
little disappointed that we weren't able to fight for the Championship. The team
really made some solid progress this season and we have ended it with two very
fast cars."
#6 Steve Richards - "I made up a couple of positions
in the final race after making up a heap of ground in the second heat. We just
didn't manage to take enough points from Skaife for the Team's Championship in
those races. All in all it has been a good season and while we didn't get
the results that we were after, we had a reasonable finish in the end. Everyone
in the team should hold their heads up high with the progress that we have made
and. All is looking good for us to start next season on a major
note."
FPR Team Principal, Tim Edwards - "We could have had a
better result this weekend, but overall we came on very strong in the last half
of the season and we need to take this form into next year. Our cars are 100%
reliable, out pit stops are exceptional, our drivers are both in form and we
really came out fighting in the last five rounds of the season. With no change
in the regulations going into next year, there is absolutely no reason why we
won't be racing for the Championship with both drivers next
season."
FPR Success Summary for Season 2007:
Round 8 - 2nd
at Oran Park -Steve Richards
Round 9 - 3rd at Sandown 500 - Steve
Richards and Owen Kelly
Round 12 - 1st at Bahrain - Mark
Winterbottom
Round 13 - 2nd at Symmons Plains - Steve Richards
Round 13 -
3rd at Symmons Plains - Mark Winterbottom
2007 Pole Position Champion
- Mark Winterbottom
Round 3 - Pukekohe (NZ)
Round 9 - Sandown
500
Round 10 - Bathurst 1000
Round 12 - Desert 400, Bahrain
FPR
Success Summary 2003 to 2007
Round Wins: 4
Round Podiums: 20 (4 x
1st, 13 x 2nd, 3 x 3rd)
Race Wins: 10
Top Three Race Finishes: 41
Pole
Positions: 7
2007 V8 SUPERCAR CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS
1. Garth Tander - 625 points
2.
Jamie Whincup - 623
3. Craig Lowndes - 592
4. Rick Kelly - 552
5.
Mark Winterbottom – 420
6. Todd
Kelly - 381
7. Steven Richards – 380
8. Mark Skaife - 379
9. James Courtney - 359
10.
Will Davison - 343
All at FPR would like to take this opportunity to thank the media
for the outstanding print and electronic media coverage gained during the season
and we look forward to unveiling the team's two new look FPR Falcons early in
the new year.
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