By Matthew Agius
The Ford Motor Company is the 2006 V8 Supercar manufacturers' champion after Jason Bright secured victory at this weekend's Desert 400 at the Bahrain International Circuit.
In his first solo round win at Ford Performance Racing, and his first solo win in 2006, Bright drove perfectly to take honours at the inaugural Desert 400. Despite leaving the Broadmeadows operation to assist his own team in 2007, Bright has proven that the FPR Falcon is a capable machine over a full weekend and, had it not been for several accidents at the start of the year, would most likely be challenging for the championship title at the next round in Phillip Island.
But all talk after the final race today was on Ford's manufacturer title. In addition to the Clipsal 500 trophy, both the Sandown 500 and Bathurst 1000 trophies and potentially the drivers' championship, Ford has had a bumper year of results.
The success started at the Clipsal 500, when Jamie Whincup took a debut win with a consistent approach, and competitive speed onboard his #88 Betta Electrical BA Falcon.
Team Betta Electrial's success continued at the hands of Craig Lowndes - the three-time Australian Touring Car Champion claiming victory at Winton and Darwin, to give Ford a one round lead over Holden following the Red Side's two wins at Pukekohe with Mark Skaife, and Barbagallo with Steven Richards.
In a shock upset, Garth Tander won the Queensland sprint round, a huge surprise given Ford's domination at the track since 2000. Tander continued to show pace at the following rounds too, despite Lowndes adding an Oran Park victory to his cabinet.
![Jason Bright - FPR/CAR Ford Falcon [pic credit: Ford media]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/281678.jpg)
