Dramatic pole for FPR

Ford Performance Racing has secured its second pole position in as many rounds as Mark Winterbottom stole the show in the dying seconds of today’s V8 Supercar Championship Series qualifying at Barbagallo Raceway.
After biding his time in the three-stage knock-out format, Frosty revealed the true pace of his FPR Falcon on his last lap, knocking Mark Skaife off pole with a time of 0:56.4362.

“This track is so close; you only need 0.1-of-a-tenth to make the difference,” said the #5 Orrcon Ford Credit FPR Falcon driver. “With the V8 Supercar knock-out format, qualifying goes down to the wire. Hopefully people enjoyed it and the race will be as good.”

Qualifying was dry but rain clouds are looking menacing over the WA track for this afternoon’s first race.

“We obviously want it to be dry this afternoon because we’re quick,” said Frosty. “Nobody’s been here in the wet since about 1999 and it’s hard to lead in those conditions; you’ve got to get off the line first!”

Team-mate Steve Richards, who was second in yesterday’s practice, was just 0.4s off Frosty’s time placing him sixth for this afternoon’s race at the ultra-close WA circuit.

“That was about all she had today,” said the #6 Castrol FPR Falcon driver. “They were all reasonable laps but the car was lacking a bit of front grip. We hadn’t made any significant alterations since yesterday, but track conditions had changed. We’ve had about 5mm of rain overnight, which washed rubber off the track and affected the way the car handles.”