Ford Performance Racing has signaled that they are well and truly back in the 2010 V8 Supercar Championship title fight, with Orrcon Steel FPR racer Mark Winterbottom securing his second victory of the season on the streets of Townsville.His stellar performance was further enriched by his Dunlop Super Dealer FPR teammate Steve Richards cementing a fifth place and the FPR-prepared Bottle-O entry driven by Paul Dumbrell crossing the line just outside the podium in fourth place.
The trifecta of FPR Falcons in the top five today will no doubt silence recent critics of the Campbellfield outfit.
“To have three FPR Falcons finish in the top five today is just awesome,” race winner Frosty said.
“It’s a real credit to the guys who have been working so hard to get us back to the podium,” he added.
“That was one of the best wins for me so far … our strategy and pit stops were just awesome.”
After a sluggish start to the race, Winterbottom pitted early in an effort to get him out of the traffic he faced allowing him clean air and a clear track which was instrumental in setting up his win today, as it gave his brakes some much needed cool air and the opportunity to get some clean fast laps under his belt.
“The call to pull me in early definitely was the turning point of the race,” Frosty said.
“The boys did an awesome stop and from there I was able to put my head down and make up some time out of sequence.
“On my second stop it was a late call and we’ve actually rehearsed last minute pit stop calls so the guys were really under pressure but pulled it off beautifully.
“From there with fresh rubber I was able to pull away and make a handy gap,” Frosty said.
“Then the safety car was called and my gap was eroded which was a bit of a blow but in the end I managed to hold off James … those last few laps were pretty hectic but it just made the win all that more enjoyable!”
Frosty’s win today elevates him back into third place on the V8 Supercar Championship points table with 1623 points, 324 points off leader James Courtney and 204 behind second placed Jamie Whincup.
Also having a weekend to remember was his FPR teammate Steve Richards who today celebrated his 38th birthday with a top five finish, his second great result in as many races.
“It’s great to finally string a few good results together,” Richo said.
“It’s been a long time coming but things are starting to fall into place … qualifying was obviously a lot better than some of my previous results and really set me up for a good weekend,” he added.
“The car felt great in the middle stint … was really well balanced and really consistent, add to that I had good reserves of brake-spray (water coolant for the brakes to prevent overheating) so I was able go pretty deep under brakes.
“It wasn’t the best start to the season but we’re now making progress and to have three FPR Falcons in the top five is testament to that.”
“Like Frosty the last six or so laps were pretty hairy because I’d run out of brake-spray so she was getting a little loose there towards the end and I had a pretty good scrap with Will (Davison) for that fifth place.”
The team now enjoys a well deserved nine week break before racing resumes with the first of the endurance races at the Phillip Island 500 on the 10th of September.
