Richo Victorious as FPR Breaks Records

FPR finish 1-2

Steve Richards stormed to victory at Hidden Valley Raceway this afternoon in a weekend of V8 Supercar Championship firsts for Ford Performance Racing.

The team registered its first 1-2 qualifying, Richo's first round win in a Ford and FPR's first-ever 1-2 round result at the Darwin track in a drama-filled weekend that saw both Richo and team-mate Mark Winterbottom take race wins.

Richo looked to have secured the top spot in today's first race before a safety car was called out nine laps before the chequered flag to retrieve a Holden flag from the circuit. The decision cost the #6 Castrol FPR driver his four-second advantage and a gear problem on the re-start cost him the lead.

Frosty, in the #5 Orrcon Ford Credit FPR Falcon, was boxed into the pit lane as Craig Lowndes and Rick Kelly came to a stop. The one-second delay saw both Richo and Garth Tander pass yesterday's race winner as he emerged from the pit lane in the early stages of the race, but he fended off the 888 cars to maintain third.

Fired up by the day's first race, Richo blasted off the grid to snatch the lead from Tander, Frosty following through. The pair held rank for the entire race in the blistering Northern Territory heat to complete a sensational weekend for FPR.

Steve Richards #6 Castrol FPR Falcon
'I'm absolutely rapt with today's result and I'm sure from here we're going to get consistently better. I'm really looking forward to the next few rounds; I think they'll be absolutely critical for the championship because you'll have to be in that top five to be in the running.

'For me, it's how a team handles its defeats not its victories that makes the difference and this is the best team I've ever been involved with. We go away, assess and bounce back and if you can keep doing that you get a pretty efficient car.

'Frosty has probably lifted my act this year as well. He's driving pretty well and that brings both drivers forward and I'm hopeful that things can get even better than this, even though it's hard to imagine!'

Mark Winterbottom #5 Orrcon Ford Credit FPR Falcon
'The car's straight, we've got a heap of points and the weekend has been great! To be beaten by your team mate is a pretty good feeling; we're going to have a great night tonight and it's going move us to a whole new level as a team.'

Tim Edwards Team Principal
'We can forget about what we described as a poor race two after this sensational result! I can't praise all the drivers and staff of FPR enough; this has been three years in the making and this result is an outstanding achievement. It's a proud moment for FPR; a truly terrific result.'

V8 Supercar Championship Series Round 6 Hidden Valley Raceway

Race Two
1. Garth Tander HRT
2. Steve Richards #6 Castrol FPR Falcon
3. Mark Winterbottom #5 Orrcon Ford Credit FPR Falcon
4. Craig Lowndes 888
5. Jamie Whincup 888
6 Russell Ingall PMM

V8 Supercar Championship Series Round 6 Hidden Valley Raceway

Race Three
1. Steve Richards #6 Castrol FPR Falcon
2. Mark Winterbottom #5 Orrcon Ford Credit FPR Falcon
3. Garth Tander HRT
4. Russell Ingall PMM
5. Will Davison DJR
6. Rick Kelly TWR

V8 Supercar Championship Series Driver Points
1. Mark Winterbottom 1402
2. Garth Tander 1344
3. Jamie Whincup 1276
4. Rick Kelly 1208
5. Steve Richards 1123
V8 Supercar Championship Series Team Points

1. FPR 2525
2. 888 2327
3. HRT 2088