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FORD TAKES TOP 2

FORD TAKES TOP 2

7 July 2013

Frosty finishes 2nd

Ford Pepsi Max Crew has claimed its first ever 1-2 with a dominant performance in the opening race of Townsville 400 as Will led home Mark on a day where factory Ford drivers filled five of the top 11 positions.

Will claimed his second win of the season while Marks result vaults him to fifth in the points after his third successive podium finish.

Will reeled in long-time race leader Craig Lowndes in the last third of the race before passing his rival, who was running an alternate strategy, with 13 laps to go before pulling away for an easy win.

Mark worked his way up from fifth on the grid and despite being the first to make the compulsory tyre compound switch he used his early pace advantage to come out right behind his team-mate after he stopped several laps later.

From there the pair ran close together until claiming the teams first 1-2 of the season.

Earlier in the day FPR became the first four-car team in V8 Supercars history to qualify all of its cars for the Top 10 Shootout.

Mark Winterbottom - #5 Pepsi Max FPR Ford:

Qualifying: 2nd

Top 10 Shootout: 5th

Race 17: 2nd

I wasnt sure how the race was going to pan out as while I stopped earlier and that gave me an advantage, I didnt want to push too hard as I felt I might struggle later on. Thankfully that wasnt to be and my lap times were good enough. Will had a very quick car and ours was pretty good too but not just quite enough to win the race. It is a great result for the team and on the in-lap after the race it was so great to see so many Ford fans. The 1-2 means so much to them as they are so passionate and their response was really cool.

Will Davison - #6 Pepsi Max FPR Ford:

Qualifying: 5th

Top 10 Shootout: 2nd

Race 17: 1st

It was a really cool race. I really didnt know what was going to happen as Craig (Lowndes) took a brave strategy decision which meant we had to wait a while for things to pan out. My car was balanced well and Mark was close behind me but I didnt want to drive on the limit as I was unsure how my tyres would hold in. But they did brilliantly and the team gave me a great car. When I started to see Craig getting closer I thought it was realistic that we could get the lead and to take the win is really special. It means a lot to me, to everyone at FPR and to all the Ford fans. I have been pretty pumped up to win here so I am very satisfied. Our 1-2 is testament to the effort of the whole team and it is the first for Pepsi Max so we couldnt be happier.

Tim Edwards FPR Team Principal:

I must commend the entire team on a brilliant performance. In front of a large and vocal crowd filled with Ford supporters we were able to deliver them the perfect result with our first 1-2 of the year. The whole team has been working incredibly hard and in Darwin we started to see the benefit of that, but today just caps it off and Will and Mark drove faultlessly to their own strategies. We were encouraged by the tyre life though I think tomorrow might be a different race now everyone has a better understanding..

SUCROGEN TOWNSVILLE 400

RACE 20 RESULTS:

1) Will Davison Pepsi Max Crew FPR

2) Mark Winterbottom Pepsi Max Crew FPR

3) Fabian Coulthard Brad Jones Racing

DRIVER CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS AFTER RACE 20

1) Jamie Whincup Triple Eight: 1519 points

2) Craig Lowndes Triple Eight: 1384

3) Will Davison Pepsi Max Crew FPR: 1298

4) Fabian Coulthard Brad Jones Racing: 1237

5) Mark Winterbottom Pepsi Max Crew FPR: 1217

TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS AFTER RACE 20