ORRCON STEEL RACING NEWS
Orrcon Steel reveal their Championship Challenger
Mark Winterbottom and Steve Richards have revealed the brand-new Orrcon Steel FPR Falcon that Winterbottom hopes will carry him to championship glory in 2010.
The 28 year-old believes the new Orrcon Steel FPR Falcon, designed and built by the team at Ford Performance Racing, not only looks the part but has the makings to ensure he will be a serious championship contender this year.
"The Orrcon Steel FPR Falcon not only looks good but it goes good too," said Winterbottom following a shakedown of the new machine last week.
"In 2010 I really want to have a good run at the championship. Two thousand and eight was good but 2009 was disappointing, so I've got to try and use what I've learnt from those two years to put together for a big year this year.
"I'm confident that I'm in the best shape that I can be in following the off season, we've done a lot of work and hopefully once we hit the track this will turn into good results."
After recently re-signing with Ford Performance Racing for a further three years Winterbottom says that winning a championship for the team and Orrcon Steel is his number one priority.
"When I re-signed at FPR for another three years a lot of that had to do with Orrcon Steel and the people because I'm very passionate about the brands associated with me and Orrcon Steel has been with me for a long time," said Winterbottom.
"Winning a championship for them is my priority. It would be great to win one for myself but the amount of people I've met along our journey over the six years I've had with Orrcon Steel a win for them would be pretty special.
"Hopefully an Orrcon Steel FPR Falcon can win the championship, that would be a dream come true."
Like his Orrcon Steel-backed team-mate, Richards is confident that a strong off season, which included the FPR Men of Steel Challenge presented by Orrcon Steel, will provide him with a solid base for the big year that lies ahead.
"It's really important for me personally to push myself to the limit in the off-season but it is also very important to push my team-mates as that provides the competitiveness in the team. This way it makes sure everyone extracts the most they can out their own performances," said Richards.
"I'm not laying down and just watching the younger generation take all of the laurels in the training camp, I was really trying hard and I know I'm fit and ready to tackle the season."
After finishing last year's championship off strongly, Richards believes the Orrcon Steel-backed outfit can continue this momentum will continue in 2010.
"We finished off last year's championship strongly with some good pace on the cars. This year we want to have a year of continual performance.
"We've made a number of changes in the engineering structure of the team and I believe this will improve us in leaps and bounds in maintaining consistency in our results.
"My personal goal is that I believe I can be in the fight and if I can be somewhere near the top three to five come Bathurst time, we should be good."
Winterbottom and Richards will take the Winton Motor Raceway in Victoria for the first test day of 2010 today ahead of the opening two rounds to be held in Abu Dhabi and Bahrain later this month.
