Andrew Jones has joined Richards as teammate for 2006. Despite winning the 2004 Fujitsu Series Championship, Jones wasn’t overly impressive at Garry Rogers Motorsport last year – being axed after an admirable performance at Bathurst. Despite this, some feel that Jones’ #34 Commodore was not getting the best attention from GRM’s development program so Tasman Motorsport has gifted him another chance in V8’s main game for 2006.
Final Word
Richards: A top ten series finish is a definite possibility.
Jones: To consistently run in the top twenty is a good ask for Jones – harsh to expect much more.
Ford Performance Racing
Mark Winterbottom (#5 BF Falcon), Jason Bright (#6 BF Falcon)
Ford’s notorious underachievers will hope to secure a much higher championship position in 2006 after two years of ill fortune. The loss of Ford Performance Vehicles as a naming rights sponsor for the #5 Ford will hit hard, but this is a year where results will be worth more than any amount of money for the flagship Blue Oval team.
Jason Bright will lead the team in his second year back at Ford. He is one of the series brightest stars and got results which were probably above the FPR Falcon’s capabilities in 2005. With further development into the squad’s engine program in the off-season, Bright is set to reap the rewards of an intense improvement from Campbellfield.
His new teammate Mark Winterbottom is likened to Tasman Motorsport’s Andrew Jones in two ways – a former Development Series champion, and a driver without a capable car in 2005. Now it’s the moment of truth for ‘Frosty’ – he is a talented youngster, but is relatively unproven in the top ranks of V8 racing. His pace in 2004 was considerable however, so he has the capability to do well in the Ford Credit Falcon.
Final Word
Bright: A solid performance in the top ten all year will be top work.
Winterbottom: Cracking the top twenty – something the Ford Credit Falcon didn’t do in 2005 – will be a credit to MW.
Jack Daniels Racing
Steven Richards (#7 VZ Commodore), Paul Dumbrell (#11 VZ Commodore)
For years, Larry Perkins and Castrol forged a successful partnership, which reaped two Bathurst victories and three second places in the V8 Supercar Championship. For 2006 however, Castrol has distanced itself from Perkins and decided to focus on sponsoring other teams in the V8 Supercar Championship. This paved the way for Jack Daniels’ Whiskey to join the team as naming-rights sponsor for 2006.
