Ford Performance Racing (FPR) heads to Queensland Raceway for this weekend’s Ipswich 300 with a new chassis and a firm belief a number of new development steps will have it running at the front of the field for the rest of the 2011 V8 Supercar season.
Will Davison will debut a completely new chassis – dubbed ‘Kate’ following a competition run by title sponsor Trading Post – which incorporates all of FPR’s latest ideas.
The all-new car successfully completed a shakedown run at Winton on Tuesday morning and has left Davison feeling confident he can continue the strong run of form he showed leading into the mid-season break.
Team-mates Mark Winterbottom and Paul Dumbrell are both well rested and, like Davison, feel the technical gains made by the team in the break will bring a performance gain.
Winterbottom has an exceptional record at Ipswich where he has finished in the top 10 on the last 12 occasions he has completed a race at the track known as the ‘paperclip’.
Dumbrell made his V8 Supercar debut at the track as a 17-year-old in 1999 and while he has not enjoyed the same success there as his factory Ford team-mates, he is racing with a clear head after recently announcing he will step back from full-time driving in 2012.
The Ipswich 300 will feature a unique three-race format with two 22-lap races – separated by a mere 15-minute break – on Saturday, followed by a 200km race on Sunday.
DRIVERS’ VIEW:
Mark Winterbottom – #5 Orrcon Steel FPR Falcon
Championship position/points: 5th / 1201 points
“This weekend is the first time we’ve been back since the floods so track conditions might be different to what we are used to. There will potentially be a few more bumps that weren’t there last year so we’ll spend practice finding that out. Ipswich is a big braking circuit so you need to get into the corners really deep which takes a fair bit of commitment. Traditionally the gap from pole to last is quite large, so although the circuit only has six corners it is hard to get right. Saturday’s two race format means survival in the first race will be vital given the short turnaround time, but we won’t get much time to make any changes so it is critical we have a good car. This is our last race before the enduros so it will be good to get some confidence before our two longest races.”
Will Davison – #6 Trading Post FPR Falcon
Championship position/points: 6th / 1200 points
“We’ve had a bit of a break since the last race so it is great to get going and hopefully we can continue our recent strong form. The team have put in a lot of work since our last all-soft tyre race so I can’t wait to see how we have progressed. This weekend will be the first for my new chassis ‘Kate’ which incorporates a number of gains in key areas. I gave the car a shakedown this morning and the crew have done a great job – it didn’t miss a beat which was very encouraging. It felt absolutely beautiful actually and we completed all the systems checks we needed to. I have done a lot of laps at QR, especially earlier in my career and I’ve won there so I actually quite like it. It is a much trickier circuit than it looks on paper and it is hard to get the car right, but I enjoy the challenge. I go there full of confidence that we have made inroads in a number of areas.”
Paul Dumbrell – #55 The Bottle-O FPR Falcon
Championship position/points: 16th / 763 points
“It seems hard to believe I made my V8 Supercar debut at Ipswich 12 years ago. It is a track that I have had a bit of a love/hate relationship with, especially in qualifying, though we have made strong gains at the last two rounds so I think we should put in a fairly good showing this year. We are not far off breaking into the top-half of the points table so my plan for this weekend is to do just that. This is the first event since I announced I won’t be racing full-time next year, so with all that speculation gone I can just concentrate on going out and having fun without any of that pressure. Dean (Canto) is back behind the wheel on Friday which will be good preparation for the enduros. We are looking for a strong finish to the year and I want it to start at Ipswich.”
Tim Edwards – FPR Team Principal
FPR Team Championship position/points: 3rd / 2426 points
“The team has been exceptionally busy in the five weeks since Townsville so we are all looking forward to going racing. We have completed the first of two new chassis and Will has the honour of debuting the first one this weekend at Ipswich, so we are all expecting a jump in performance once he adapts to the car. While it is more evolution than revolution, we expect it to be a step forward, much like Mark’s will be when it is finished. Ipswich has been a happy hunting ground for us in the past and this weekend will be another opportunity for us to move up the points table. We’ve turned things around in recent rounds so want to continue that progression.”
2011 V8 SUPERCAR CHAMPIONSHIP
DRIVER POINTS AFTER RACE 15
1) Jamie Whincup – Triple Eight: 1683 points
2) Craig Lowndes – Triple Eight: 1497
3) Shane van Gisbergen – Stone Brothers Racing: 1317
4) Rick Kelly – Kelly Racing: 1244
5) Mark Winterbottom – Ford Performance Racing: 1201
6) Will Davison – Ford Performance Racing: 1200
16) Paul Dumbrell – Ford Performance Racing: 763
2011 V8 SUPERCAR CHAMPIONSHIP
TEAM POINTS AFTER RACE 15
1) Triple Eight: 3205 points
2) Stone Brothers Racing: 2452
3) Ford Performance Racing: 2426