LOWNDES GOES WITH FORD

well the long awaited news of where will Craig lowndes go seems to be over ..he has signed a 5 year multi million dollar deal to drive for a brand new Ford team to be headed up by Fred Gibson...the all new Ford team is set to run just one car in 2001 for Lowndes and hopefully go to 2 cars in 2002..this one came out of the blue (oval) but I think in its first year the team may struggle but eventually with Craigs driving skills and Freds fantastic managment skills the team will be a sucess.

I was a bit surprised by it as the rumors were suggesting a Brock/holden new team but it was totally opposite..

anyway its great to have Fred back in the sport and I hope they do well.

I couldn't beleive it when I heard the news. What a shock. Also Steven Richards has been confirmed to FTR in the very same press release.

I hope Murph can find a drive for next year.

Also, this news arrives the day the 10-10ths Forum goes down ! hehe I was absolutey itching to get on here and start seeing what others thought about it. :)

One more question I had though, will Lowndes be driving a brand new AU at the Melbourne GP support races or a 2nd hand one and if so from where ? Was just curious to know.

Wowsers! I still don't know what to say about this, i guess it is great for Ford, wooo hoooo!:)

It would be great to make a list of the rumours that have been circulating over the months...

surely greg murphy will have a drive in 2001 - its bs if he doesnt :mad:

Excellent,

Fred Gibson nearly went to Ford after the Nissan days when V8's came back from the dead. Good to see he is back where he belongs. Lowndes in a Ford? Like Colin Bond before him, he just took a little while to see the blue light.

Steven Richards to FTR is great news. Finally the scene is being set for the faithful to be lead out of the wilderness.

to answer buchsots question..the team will have a brand new shell for the GP..it is currently under construction by the stone brothers and was actually going to be used as a development car by Ford..but now will be handed over to "Gibson Motorsport"

as for a time line sort of deal ..go out and buy "Motorsport news" they have done an excellent job in covering what has gone on and Im thouroughly impressed but this edition of the mag..just wish it was a weekly one...they even held up printing for 24hrs after this story landed on their desk's.

the only loser seems to be poor old greg Murphy..where will he go ..a mate and me sat down this arvo and tried to work out where he could go ???..but we came up empty..possibly Paul Weels second car ..but that would be a bit of a step down for Greg..who knows.

One more thing about Lowndes though..i must admit to being a Holden Fan through and through and have watched Craig's career blossom from his F Ford days...the press have been saying that his fans wont understand and will end up not following him anymore....what a load of ********..I love Holdens but when it comes to racing I dont care what car wins ..i follow the drivers and not the teams..they are the stars not guys like Grech and his mates...so i will follow Craig and wish him every success with ford..and I may even like to see him win a couple of races...good luck Craig ..lets hope ya beat HRT..( I carnt believe I just said that !!!!)

I agree with Marcus, i'm also a big fan of Holden and Lowndesy and I'm sad to see him go over to the dark side of the force, but still I wish him every success. Perhaps some people have badge disease and can't see any further than that, but i tend to follow the drivers more than the cars, eg. I'm a huge fan of Glenn Seton but i can take or leave Paul Morris.

Being a ford fan this is great news. Im not the bigest fan of Lowndes, but anything to help get ford on top of the podium is a step in the right direction.
I think Lowndes will cop a hard time from the holden fans (not a intelligent as ford fans ;)).
Predictions for this years championship
Radisich
Richards
Besnard
Lowndes
Seton

Hey Moff,
There must be a spare seat alongside Lowndes when they eventually get a second car. Have you put your hand up for the drive :laugh: .

Ford Shell champions in 2001 :p :p :p :p :p :p

Originally posted by mtpanorama
(not a intelligent as ford fans ;))

DUHHH...I dont quite understand ??? :rotate:

i dont think it will be an all Ford show ..but they should do better..you simply carnt write off HRT..or the valvoline boys for that matter..but one thing we opposing fans can agree on it is looking like a great season is shaping up for 2001

The fact is that HRT will have a bigger budget this year than in any previous year, Bright is still a fantastic driver, and it's not that the Ford drivers in the past haven't been trying, they have worked as hard, if not harder than anyone else- except without the results. Lowndes, no matter how good he is, isn't going to be winning races for some time, and is Steve Richards that much better than Crompton?

How long to the start of the season?? It sounds like we are going to be in for a ripper of a year. It will also be interesting to see how Craig goes away from HRT.

I think will Lowndesy will struggle for results, but then hey, i thought he would join Brocky's new HDT. :)

I think you would have to be a brave man to tip against another HRT title, Skaife & Bright, no other team has a stronger PAIR of drivers, nor a bigger budget or better infrastructure.

Yesss David....now that Craig is joining Gibson/Ford, can you tell us all of your certain inside mail?? ;) :D

David,

Lowndes goes to the dark side? It's interesting that the formative reasons for choosing Ford or Holden probably come down to what our fathers' drove. At one stage Dad had a Valiant, this was thankfully at the time of the Chargers and King Leo.

As any Aussie could tell by my chosen nick name I'm a Ford supporter but agree that the personality of the driver plays a part - there are only two makes after all. I like Lowndes and Skaife but don't like Ingall and Perkins. Why, I can't be very objective here. I just don't like them. As for next year anybody betting against HRT is a punter in the true sense of the word. Your are right right David, Bright in place of Lowndes, Lowndes in a Ford. Net gain zero to either side.

Crash, i haven't spoken to my source, haven't had any brake work done lately. Now I just hope his advice on brake pads is better than his inside knowledge on Craig Lowndes future, or i'll be getting quite a lot of practice at this panel beating caper. :)

Moff, my Dad had Holdens before I was born, then owned a lengthy succession of Datsuns throughout my childhood. Over the past decade he's been through an awful lot of Fords. In fact he just bought an XR6 last week.

I've owned 6 Valiants, 3 of them were Chargers, and i keep swearing i'll never have another, but i'm not so sure I believe it.