MEDIA RELEASE 2 August 2005

FORD RACING TO MARK 80th BIRTHDAY OF THE BLUE OVAL IN AUSTRALIA

Ford will mark its 80th year in Australia at round #8 of this year's V8 Supercar Championship Series at Sydney's Oran Park on August 12-14.

All 14 official Ford entries will carry 'Ford 80' on their windscreen headers. Adding to the celebration will be a number change and a special one-off livery for Greg Ritter's Ford Credit/FPV Ford Performance Racing Falcon.

Ritter will run as car #80 instead of his usual #5 and will carry special logos on the side and roof of his race car.

The design will feature a special logo developed to celebrate Ford's 80 years in Australia, as well as its 80-year partnership with the Geelong Football Club. The Ford/GFC partnership is believed to be the oldest sporting sponsorship in the world.

The weekend of August 12-14 is the Heritage Round in the AFL with Geelong to face old foes Melbourne at Skilled Stadium on the Saturday afternoon. The two oldest clubs in the AFL will wear period-styled playing guernseys with the Geelong playing strip to feature the same logo as the Ritter Falcon that will be on the track in Sydney at the same time.

The unveiling of the #80 year celebration Falcon took place at a special ride-day for the Geelong Football Club at Ford's Proving Ground outside of Melbourne.

"It's clearly a special moment for Ford and I feel quite honoured to be part of it," said Ritter.

"It's not that often that two major sporting codes can come together to mark a major celebration like this. Ford would have to be one of only a few corporations that could even think about using its sporting partnerships in this type of activity!

"The Cats are travelling very well this season. Here's hoping some of that form can rub off on us not just for Oran Park but also the big races at Sandown and Bathurst!"

Ritter was on-hand with other Ford Racing stars Brad Jones (Team BOC), Russell Ingall (Caltex Racing) and Jason Bargwanna (Orrcon Steel Racing), to give the full senior squad advanced driver tuition.

It's the second time that Ford has hosted the Cats' players at a drive day. Last year's event at Calder Park proved very popular and coach Mark Thompson was keen to get his players back behind the wheel.

Players got to experience driving from the Ford Racing stars, as well as putting their skills to the test in a tightly controlled program.

"We have run the same type of program for the Australian Cricket Team as well as the Australian Wallabies Rugby Union team," said Jason Bargwanna.

"Everyone has a great day and for the footballers they really do improve their driving. The good thing is they can explore the limits of the cars in controlled conditions. They certainly get a better appreciation of car control without the danger of having an accident.

"For us as drivers it's great to swap stories with other athletes. Overall we are all driven individuals and although they are twice as big as us, we all have ambitions to be the best in our chosen field."


Ford’s official V8 Line-up for Oran Park

#1 Marcos Ambrose (Tas) Pirtek Racing

#9 Russell Ingall (SA) Caltex Racing

#80 Greg Ritter (Vic) Ford Credit/FPV Ford Performance Racing

#6 Jason Bright (Vic) CAT Ford Performance Racing

#10 Jason Bargwanna (NSW) Orrcon Steel Racing

#20 Mark Winterbottom (NSW) Orrcon Steel Racing

#12 John Bowe (Tas) Team BOC

#21 Brad Jones (NSW) Team BOC

#17 Steve Johnson (Qld) Westpoint Racing

#18 Glenn Seton (NSW) Westpoint Racing

#25 Matthew White (Vic) Fujitsu Racing

#52 Steve Owen (Vic) Fujitsu Racing

#88 Steve Ellery (Vic) Team Betta Electrical

#888 Craig Lowndes (Vic) Team Betta Electrical

Sound great LONG LIVE FORD

Ahhh that just gave me an idea for a number plate.....
Well done to ford, and everyone involved, its good for them to hit a new milestone, and an 80 year sponsership, that is a long dedicated time.

Well done Ford.
Its nice to see the Blue Oval still going strong after all these years.