FPR announce new appointments.

Ford Performance Racing Managing Director David Flint has announced two new senior appointments to this blue oval V8 Supercar team.

Dave Ward has been appointed to the role of Team Manager effective from the Sandown round of the 2004 Australian V8 Supercar Championship Series. This role covers all operational aspects of the team.

John Russell as chief engineer, will be responsible for all design, development, test and race engineering.

Ward joins FPR from his most recent position as Team Manager of the highly
successful international Sportscar racing team, Audi Sport UK Team Veloqx. He has also worked with numerous other top teams including Peugeot Sport UK, Apex Motorsport and Team Bentley.

Flint believes that the appointment concludes a long running search to find the right man for the job.

"I am delighted to announce this appointment," he said. "After spending some time with Dave in Australia a few weeks ago, we concluded that he was the right fit. He is a very experienced and highly professional team manager and we are all looking forward to working with him."

FPR has also announced the appointment of Rob Benson as race engine team leader.

Benson joins the team from Brad Jones Racing and is expected to begin his role with FPR soon after the Oran Park round in mid August. This is to ensure the changeover from his current team is carried out with the least possible disturbance.

Benson made a name for himself with Tom Walkingshaw Racing, building the dominating Le Mans Jaguar engines and European Touring Car Championship engines. He joined the Holden Racing Team in 1990 and headed the team's engine engineering division for HRT's first Bathurst victory in 1990 and one of Craig Lowndes Championship years (1996) before establishing his own engine building company, Race Engine Developments in 1997.

Benson was also worked for Nascar team Hendrick Motorsport before returning to Australia earlier this year to work for the Brad Jones Racing V8 Supercar team.

Flint also believes that Benson will be the right man for his role.

"We will be continuing the development of the Prodrive engine in Australia and the appointment of a senior engine development engineer is crucial to the success of that programme," he said. "We are confident that Rob's experience with highly successful race engines in Australia and North America will add an extra dimension to the team who are determined to make significant advances in the shortest possible timeframe."