FPR confident all cars will shine on Bathurst race day

Although FPR’s cars will be starting second, ninth, 24th and 25th for tomorrow’s Bathurst 1000km, based on the pace seen throughout the weekend, they expect all cars have a good shot at winning the milestone event tomorrow, with Mark Winterbottom and Steve Owen the best placed of the team in second on the grid.

Winterbottom put on a great first and last sector to snatch what would be second on the grid, after making a mistake at The Dipper up the top of the circuit on his run in the single-lap top ten shootout.

“My car in the morning warm up was doing 2:06s really easily, and I thought I’d harden it up a bit, but in the shootout the track changed,” said Winterbottom. “I lost a lot of time (on the top)…so it was good to get to the bottom…but I did a good last sector and got back to second. It’s good to be on the front row, FPR has an incredible record at Bathurst and it’s good to do Ford proud and get on the front and we’ll race hard tomorrow.”

On whether the #5 car will try and maximise points, with championship leader Jamie Whincup starting down in 23rd place and with his Triple Eight team-mate Craig Lowndes starting sixth, Winterbottom shrugged off the suggestion that anything other than a Bathurst victory was the plan.

“We’re going to try and win Bathurst,” he said. “I think anyone who comes here and tries to protect the championship is pretty cruel on the co-driver, as they’re coming here to try and win, and if I told Steve (Owen) we’re just trying to finish second because we’re leading the championship, I wouldn’t drive back in. So we’re going to try and win it, whatever happens, happens.”

Team Principal Tim Edwards is confident the team will fare well on race day, and despite Chaz Mostert’s #6 starting from last to a qualifying infringement and with David Reynolds in the #55 car second to last after crashing out at the start of qualifying, with 161 laps and based on past performances, no FPR should be ruled out from potential victory at the Mount Panorama circuit.

“I’m happy to be on the front row of the grid,” said Edwards to TouringCarTimes. “We’ve always felt pole was a bit of a bogey, we’ve had pole multiple times and it’s never actually led to a good result, so the superstitious guys in the team are actually happy that we’re second.”

In respect of what David Reynolds could do on race day, one of the strongest runners at Bathurst in previous years, Edwards added:

“To be honest I think he still is on for the win, and even Chaz. We got him back from a lap down at Sandown and he drove right up to the lead group…on the 92nd lap last year Reynolds was in last place and even last year he drove right back up to the lead group…so I’m quite confident they’ll be right up there at the right end.”