Ford Performance Racing’s Steven Richards stormed to victory in Darwin at the weekend – leading the first 1-2 result for Ford Performance Racing at the SKYCITY Challenge at Hidden Valley Raceway, round six of the V8 Supercar Championship Series.

The V8 Supercars will co-headline the Gold Coast Indy 300 alongside the IndyCar Series when the four day festival hits Surfers Paradise on October 23-26.

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

Winterbottom recorded his second pole position of the year aboard the #5 Orrcon FPR Falcon during qualifying and was joined on the front row for race one by his team-mate Steve Richards.

During the opening 42-lap race the pair were unstoppable and crossed the line over 10 seconds clear of their nearest rival, Garth Tander.

Winterbottom led the way at the start of race two before Richards took over the front running as the field completed their compulsory pit stops, before a late-race safety car period, ironically caused by a spectator’s Holden flag finding its way onto the circuit, allowed the field to bunch up behind the #6 Castrol FPR Falcon.

At the restart Tander got the jump over Richards and went on to claim the race two win ahead of Richards with Winterbottom crossing the line in third place.

For Tander the flag was a turning point but not enough to get him across the line for an overall victory.

Determined to claim his first round win since the Perth round in 2006, Richards stormed to the front at the start of the final race ahead of his team-mate.

From that point the pair were once again dominant and went on to claim the top two spots on the podium, a first for the Ford Performance Racing outfit, with Tander in third on the round points.

As a result of this weekend’s success Winterbottom extended his lead in the championship standings over Tander. He is now 58 points clear in top spot. As a result of his round win Richards has moved into fifth place.

The next round of the championship will be held at Queensland Raceway on July 18-20, which will be round seven of a 14 round championship that takes in two international rounds (NZ and Bahrain) as well as the Gold Coast Indy 300 in October.

With 96 hours of non-stop excitement over October 23-26 as the Gold Coast comes alive to the sound of the IndyCar Series cars burning up the track and Australia’s own V8 Supercars scorching around one of the most famous beach-side cities in the world, the event is the hottest ticket in town.

Tickets are now on sale for the Gold Coast Indy 300 with ticket options to suit everyone's needs. Four day Grandstand passes are available for those who prefer to watch the racing from the comfort of their own reserved seat or for those who prefer to wander around and soak up the atmosphere then a four day, weekend or single day General Admission pass might be more their style. For more information on ticket options click here. For information on Corporate Hospitality packages please call our Sales Team on (07) 5588 6800.

WHAT THEY HAD TO SAY…
Steve Richards - #6 Castrol FPR Falcon – Finished First
"I am absolutely rapt with today's result and I'm sure from here we're going to get consistently better," said Richards.

"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.

“There’s no doubt it was a great result for our team under the circumstances but the next three rounds in my mind are absolutely critical for what’s going to fallout in the Championship after those events.

“It’s going to put an enormous amount of pressure on the teams to turn cars around but also maintain the detail and the car preparation. It’s a really important phase of the Championship so on the back side of Winton we are really going to see how the Championship is unfolding.

“It’s nice to have the win after the last few disappointing rounds. It’s not only that but having two cars on the podium let alone a 1-2 is an outstanding effort.

“The result came down to having good speed, which we had all weekend, making a good start and the guys having a good pit stop. In the end it all came together perfectly.”

Mark Winterbottom - #5 Orrcon FPR Falcon – Finished Second
“This weekend’s result is a first for the team and a great reward for all of the hard work by everyone involved,” said Winterbottom.

“My aim coming into the weekend was to get a heap of points towards my championship tally and extend my lead in the standings – I achieved that, so I’m very happy.

“In the final race I was watching Richo from second place and felt pretty comfortable, despite being closely followed by Garth, as I was aware of how hard it is to pass around here in these conditions.”

Garth Tander - #1 HRT Holden – Finished Third
“We got quite lucky at the restart,” said Tander.

“After Sandown it’s a great fight back. A lot of people asked a lot of questions of HRT after Sandown and I think we’ve now answered that. This is where we need to head.”


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