Richo's Mid Season Wrap

With the sun set on the weekends round at Winton, I thought I would give you all a rundown on the year to date. Firstly though the Ford Performance Racing Teams round at Winton was almost another clean sweep.

Winton...

We had a high expectation that Winton would be good for our team and cars. It is our test circuit and with the cars improvement in the last 6 months we knew we would be competitive. Proof was in the pudding after qualifying and both cars qualified inside the top ten, Frosty on pole position and the Castrol FPR Falcon in 6th, only 1/10th of a second off the front row. The races didn’t quite go to plan for both FPR Falcons.

In the first race Frosty picked up a puncture in the first lap which meant slow laps to make it to the pitstop window, therefore losing around a minute. The Castrol FPR Falcon had a good run after being pushed off the road at turn 1, losing 7 positions; we recovered to eventually end up 5th with a good pitstop and strategy. The car was very good.

Race 2 on a cold Sunday morning was looking good. A good start saw Car 6 up alongside position 4. There was a bit of a drama at turn 2 which we were caught up in, although it didn’t stop us from continuing in 4th position. Then 20 laps later the car broke a rear axle, which may have been related to the earlier incident and our race was effectively over. Meanwhile Frosty had a great result finishing in 2nd position after starting 21st.

We started race 3 in 24th and only went as far as turn 3 before being innocently caught up in a bunch of cars head butting for position. Broken suspension and a non finish was the result. Frosty had made a great getaway to lead only to slip off the road and get crunched by another car when rejoining, so it just didn’t quite go FPR’s way. Still after all the drama the team still leads the Teams Championship and while both Frosty and I dropped a spot in the Championship, we are still well and truly in contention.

Clipsal 500...

So let’s take a bit of a look at the season so far. It has been a great start to the year for Ford Performance Racing in terms of results. Never has the team been so strong with both cars recording outstanding qualifying and racing results. If we go back to Adelaide for the Clipsal 500 it was a good first up effort. Frosty was on the podium in race 1, while the Castrol FPR Falcon finished in 5th position. Just goes to show how important every facet of our sport is. While running third in race 2 and looking good for a podium, a leaking drink straw spraying water inside the car and hitting me in the eye was responsible for a slip off the road and into the gravel. That’s right it is the most bizarre circumstance I have had in my career. Meanwhile Frosty was caught up in the argy bargy of Lowndes and Courtney causing a DNF. In the end the Castrol FPR Falcon finished in 15th position. Still signs were excellent as both cars could have very easily finished on the podium.

Eastern Creek...

Eastern Creek in Sydney saw round two. It had been a circuit that had posed a few issues for the team over the past few years. We missed the mark with the cars in qualifying and had to be content with both cars fortunes outside the top ten. But as has been the case during the past couple of years the FPR team dug deep to turn the performance of qualifying around. Race 1 was disappointing for me after a tap from Cam McConville which damaged the car and caused a spin, finishing a lowly 27th. Frosty fought hard and made his way forward to 10th from 15th. Race 2 was fantastic as Car 6 moved from 27th up to 7th and the team were really getting on top of the cars setup on this difficult circuit. Frosty moved from 10th to 2nd in the same race. Race 3 was elementary on one side of the garage and disastrous on the other. Frosty went on to win, while a loose wheel running in a competitive 5th place caused a huge accident for me which effectively trashed my trusty ‘A’ Chassis for the year. The team worked miracles during that week to convert our spare car at FPR ready for me for the following weeks tussle at the Grand Prix in Melbourne.

Grand Prix...

What a great job they did too. The Castrol FPR Falcon qualified in third position, while Frosty started 7th. A tussle with a slow starting Lowndes causing a spin put paid to a great result for me while Frosty went on to finish in 5th. Starting at the rear is always difficult but car 6 managed to get up to 12th, while Frosty finished in 3rd position. Race 3 we managed to claw our way back up to 6th, while the unfortunate Orrcon FPR Falcon was caught in an incident while tussling for a podium place.

Hamilton NZ...

Off to NZ for our first round at the new street circuit in Hamilton. It was a stellar weekend for the Castrol FPR Falcon, qualifying on Pole position and ending the round in 2nd position. Frosty in the Orrcon FPR Falcon put in a gutsy drive to finish the weekend in 5th place from a 13th qualifying position. The team were electric with they’re pit stops and strategy all weekend and our third podium.

Barbagallo...

The Barbagallo round of the series is always a cracker, with the WA fans coming in droves. This was a dominant round victory for FPR with Frosty on pole position and winning all three races. Car 6 qualified strongly in 6th position to finish in 4th position in race 1. On the exit of turn 1 in race 2, Skaifey was wide and I was filling the hole left behind, moving into third place. A tap in the rear spun me around and put paid to what would have potentially been FPR’s first round 1, 2 podium result. That would have to wait!! The FPR team again jumped into action fixing the damage and getting me out still on the lead lap. At this point we were as good as last, but managed to get back to 9th position by race end. Race 3 we moved forward a couple of more positions finishing in 7th.

Sandown...

Sandown in Melbourne was next on the agenda and the weather is starting to freeze over in the southern states. Rain is always on the cards and it played its hand. The Castrol FPR Falcon qualified in 7th while Frosty was 2nd. Drama at turn 4 on lap 1 from a tap behind sent car 6 into a spin. A black flag to remove damaged bodywork also added salt to the wound. Frosty finished second while I finished in 23rd. We bounced up to 16th in the wet race 2, while the Orrcon FPR Falcon finished in 6th. Race 3 was dry and with the afternoon turning to night and lights ablaze we finished in 9th position. Frosty finished in 2nd and grabbed the Championship lead in the process.

Hidden Valley...

After the frustration of the previous two rounds it was pretty clear that in order to stop from being a punching bag, we would have to qualify on the front couple of rows of the grid. In Darwin we managed that, to have both FPR Falcons qualify in first and second on the grid. A first for FPR. It was a dominant display by the team, finishing a distant 1, 2 in race 1, followed by a 2, 3 in race 2. After leading the race with a good gap it was a safety car caused by of all things a ‘Holden flag’ and a stuck gearshift that allowed Tander in for the win. It was a determined FPR team that were out to right the wrong of race 2 and get the win. A great start saw us lead into the first corner and were never headed. The Castrol FPR Falcon recording its first round victory for the team and with the Orrcon FPR Falcon finishing in second position, it was the teams first ever 1, 2 result.

Queensland Raceway...

Only two weeks later the slate was wiped clean for the annual tramp to Queensland to take on the Northerners. This track had always been a challenge for FPR to get our cars working competitively on. After finishing 2nd and 3rd in practice we were very happy with things, particularly on ‘foreign soil’. Qualifying didn’t go quite so well for car 6 finishing the session outside the top 10, while Frosty put the Orrcon FPR Falcon in second place. Race 1 car 6 moved up to 7th after some good opening lap passing. Frosty finished 2nd. Race 2 and after putting a move on Skaifey to claim 5th position, a whack in the rear turned us around in a nice 360 with a half pike to resume in 12th. We fought back as the car had great speed and the FPR crew once again worked some strategic magic to finish in 7th. Frosty went on to win the race. Race 3 was looking promising. Moving up a couple of positions in the first couple of corners until someone found the target that I have had on the rear bumper for a few of the last rounds. This pushed me wide and dropped me back to 15th. Frosty took the round win and I finished in 11th after moving up a few positions.

So there you have a brief synopsis of the year to date. While there is still plenty of water to flow under the bridge for the next 6 rounds of the year, things are looking pretty peachy for Ford Performance Racing. We currently sit in 2nd and 6th in the Championship and are still leading the teams Championship. With two Endurance races, the L&H 500 coming up at Phillip Island in six weeks and then the Bathurst 1000 in early October there are still plenty of points up for grabs that could push our team towards a one two result in the Championship. There is clearly no doubt that with all the clever people at FPR and some very strong circuits for the team coming up, our star is still on the rise and my own personal expectations are to be further up the Championship with a couple more race and round wins to the tally.

We now have a bit of a ‘mid season break’ where everyone can take stock and look to planning the second part of the year.

As for me, I’m going to remove the target from the back of my car and the family and I are going on a bit of a ‘Griswold’s family adventure’ through Victoria in our Travelhome. This should refresh the body and mind and keep me pumped for the remainder of a very busy 2008.

All the best.

Richo.