Tough start at Barbagallo for FPR.

Ford Performance Racing drivers Craig Lowndes and Glenn
Seton endured a tough start to Round 5 of the 2004 Australian V8 Supercar Championship Series at Perth's Barbagallo Raceway today.

For Ford Credit FPV Falcon driver Glenn Seton, the 8th fastest Perth qualifier, the event lasted less than a single lap when an engine failure brought him straight into the pits and out of the race.

This was a particularly bitter pill to swallow for the double champion, who had set the 7th fastest lap time of the top ten shoot out earlier in the day.

"Obviously it is disappointing to loose an engine when I was in the potential situation of gaining my strongest result of the season," said Seton. "There's no point worrying over things like this - that's motor racing, we have to focus our minds on fixing our problems to make the car more reliable and consistently quick."

CAT FPR Falcon driver and four time Perth winner Craig Lowndes started the race from 9th on the grid and dropped to 13th on the first lap after being forced to the outside of turn one shortly after the green light. The next laps would prove worse, when Lowndes went wide at turn 6, then becoming involved in altercations with Todd Kelly and Max Wilson.

These incidents resulted in a bent steering and spoiler damage that made it virtually impossible for Lowndes to make any significant progress for the remainder of the 42 lap race. He finished 21st.

"I got off to a strong start but John Bowe in front of me didn't, that held me up going into turn one, I slipped off the track coming into turn six which dropped me back and then I was then caught up in incidents with Todd Kelly and Max Wilson that dragged me back further," explained Lowndes. "It wasn't a good race for us, we'll concentrate on doing better tomorrow."

"The luck fairy certainly deserted us this afternoon," explained FPR chief engineer John Russell. "Glenn retired early with an engine problem - a massive disappointment for him as he had been driving very well all weekend with a good car. Craig was unfortunate with some poor opening laps, eventually becoming involved in an incident which dropped him to the rear of the field and he drove it home from there."