FPR testing report - Winton Raceway

August 24, 2004 - Ford Performance Racing (FPR) has completed a productive day of V8 Supercar testing in fine and warm conditions at Victoria's Winton Raceway.

FPR Falcon drivers Craig Lowndes and Glenn Seton were joined by newly crowned Konica V8 Supercar Series Champion Andrew Jones for the day's detailed testing programme, covering a number of chassis and suspension developments.

Lowndes displayed a significant improvement in car speed with his CAT FPR Falcon today compared to the team's last two-day test at this venue in mid July. The same can be said for Ford Credit FPV Falcon driver Seton, who was also pleased with the improvements made to his car in terms of engine driveability and handling at this technical three kilometre circuit.

Fresh from his blue oval Konica V8 Supercar Championship victory, 24 year old Andrew Jones completed 35 laps today in the CAT FPR Falcon, impressing the team with his pace and technical feedback.

The performance gains made today will be supported by another test day at Winton next Tuesday (Aug 31) which will be conducted by FPR's 2004 endurance race drivers Alain Menu and Adam Macrow. 2004 Konica V8 Supercar Series runner- up Luke Youlden will also be joining FPR for his first test with the blue oval team as a part of the team's continuing evaluation of young Australian talent.

#6 Craig Lowndes (75 laps) - "The car was pretty good today, we made several changes and shared the responsibility of development work between Glenn's car and mine. We gained and cross-referenced a great deal of valuable data this way. I'm looking forward to the de-brief as I am sure that we will benefit even more from a detailed overview of our busy day on the track. All of this work should help us get the right formula that suits Glenn and I best for Sandown and Bathurst."

#5 Glenn Seton (86 laps plus 15 laps in the CAT FPR Falcon) - "I had a very productive day of testing and we completed a number of changes on the car to continually improve it. We have definitely made some gains here. I am looking forward to Sandown to try the changes that we have devised and hopefully translate this into a good result. Teaming up with Craig for the enduros will be great. The way we work together is a major positive for us and we plan to do very well at Sandown and Bathurst."

Andrew Jones (35 laps) - "I am still on a high from winning the Konica Series title and today was a great opportunity for me - to come straight from that into this test was very exciting. Having been in my car for a few days, this test was good to compare what I am used to with the FPR Falcons. After driving alongside Craig Lowndes and Glenn Seton all day, there are plenty of positives about the FPR Falcons and I learned a few things from them as well."

FPR Chief Engineer, John Russell - "We had a very good day today, Craig, Glenn and Andrew worked through the full test programme on both cars and we gained some extremely positive results. Andrew did a very competent job today, completing 35 laps. All in all it was a great day, from the brilliant weather to the fact that we had no engine or car issues at all with both cars, Craig's car completed 125 trouble free laps. "

-fpr-