BRIGHT RACES INTO TOP TEN IN GOLD COAST OPENER
October 22, 2005 - Ford Performance Racing (FPR) drivers Jason Bright and
Greg Ritter have made up significant ground in today's opening 140 kilometre
V8 Supercar street race at Queensland's Surfers Paradise.
Bright, who is competing in his 100th V8 Supercar Championship round this
weekend, raced his CAT FPR Falcon from 14th on the starting grid to finish
8th after a strong and reliable performance in the very hot and fast paced
31 lap race.
Ritter gained an impressive ten positions in today's race, taking his Ford
Credit FPV Falcon from 29th on the grid to 19th by the chequered flag in a
determined drive.Ritter was fortunate to avoid major damage when he and
competitor Anthony Tratt tangled following the FPR driver's compulsory pit
stop for tyres.
Precision pit stops by the FPR crew ensured a top ten start for Bright and a
top twenty starting position for Ritter for the second of three races to
decide the Surfers Paradise round tomorrow.
The race was won by Greg Murphy ahead of Ford driver Craig Lowndes and Mark
Skaife.Surprisingly, the entire race was run without any Safety Car
interruptions or major incidents.
#6 Jason Bright - "We have definitely improved the car and I can drive it
with much more confidence now - which is what you need to be fast here. This
is by far the best car that I have ever had here, it hung onto its tyres,
brakes and balance very well. I lost a lot of time early in the race behind
Tander, Wilson and the pack, but once they were out of the way we were
lapping almost one second a lap faster, which means we should be able to
hold on to the lead drivers tomorrow."
#5 Greg Ritter - "All in all I had a good race, I just tried to keep it
clean throughout in order to make up positions and that's what happened. The
car is still a bit of hard work but with the data that we gained in this
race, I am sure that we will be able to improve it further for tomorrow."
FPR Motorsport Director, Tim Edwards - "Great to get both cars to the finish
today. We made a number of improvements overnight to both cars that worked
well enabling us to significantly progress from our qualifying positions.
This has placed us in much better starting positions for tomorrow's races,
so we are optimistic about our chances."
The second race of the round is scheduled to start at 11:05am tomorrow, with
the third and final race of the round starting at 3:55pm, pending any delays
with the Champ Car (Indy) race.
-fpr-
