Supercars

FPR Winton test wrap-up

FPR SETS A SIZZLING PACE AHEAD OF WINTON V8 SUPERCAR RACE May 9, 2007 - The Ford Performance Racing (FPR) V8 Supercar team has completed a detailed two day test at Victoria's Winton Motor Raceway, the team's nominated test circuit and the venue ...

Published: May 9, 2007, 11:51 PM

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FPR SETS A SIZZLING PACE AHEAD OF WINTON V8 SUPERCAR RACE

May 9, 2007 - The Ford Performance Racing (FPR) V8 Supercar team has completed a detailed two day test at Victoria's Winton Motor Raceway, the team's nominated test circuit and the venue for Round 4 of the V8 Supercar Championship Series to be held next weekend (May 18-20).

The entire FPR driving squad of Steve Richards, Mark Winterbottom and endurance race drivers Matt Halliday and Owen Kelly took part in an extensive development test programme on Monday and Tuesday May 7 & 8.

The two day test provided an opportunity for the team's spare FPR Falcon V8 Supercar to be used along with one of the team's current race chassis. The Prodrive team tested a number of suspension and general set-up changes along with a number of new components to maximise the team's development ahead of the busy and vitally important mid-season section of the Championship.

On Monday, the four FPR Falcon drivers jointly covered 280 laps, with a fastest lap time of 1:24.2413s.

On Tuesday, the four FPR Falcon drivers covered 159 laps, with a fastest lap time of 1:24.5314s. A number of competing teams were present at during one or both of the test days including HRT, TKR, Toll HSV Dealer Team, Team BOC, Jack Daniels Racing, Super Cheap Auto Racing, Britek Motorsport and Autobarn Racing.

FPR's best lap times each day ranked the team as second fastest overall on each of the test days in direct comparison to their competitors.

Steve Richards - "A constructive test, we confirmed a lot of the things that we have tried over the past few race meetings to get a better idea of what will work best for the forthcoming rounds. We didn't cover as much ground as we would have liked as we didn't have the tyres to be able to do this. We came away from this test with a lot of positives, so it has been very good overall."

Mark Winterbottom - "A good two days, the only problem we had was with our tyres. We brought tyres that were last used in Bahrain last season and were only some eight laps old, but they just didn't work as well as we expected on the Winton Raceway surface. Two days of testing using only three sets of tyres makes it hard, but we made some good changes and managed to set the second fastest lap on both days. Considering the rubber that we used to achieve this, it is all very promising for next week's Winton V8 Supercar round."

Matt Halliday - "This has been a very good test, we have enjoyed excellent speed and reliability throughout. It is always a worry getting back into these cars after being in a single seater for so long, and this test confirmed that I have become so used to the FPR Falcons that the transition has become very straight forward. The team has made it easy to slot straight back in and I was glad to be so close to the pace during both days."

Owen Kelly - "This was a very good test. Matt and I were able to gain more mileage in the FPR Falcons which is really what it is all about for us as endurance race co-drivers. With every test day I am more confident with the car, which brings improved pace as well. I have left the development side of it to Mark, Steve and the FPR engineers who have done a great job."

FPR Motorsport Director, Tim Edwards - "We completed 439 laps over the two days in what was our last real development opportunity of the season, as our next and final test days later in the year will centre on our endurance race preparation. The cars ran faultlessly throughout the test and while we didn't have the tyres to be setting fastest lap times, our drivers were consistently setting the fastest times throughout both days of testing."

-credit: fpr

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