Manufacturer | Ford |
---|---|
Team Principal | Rod Nash Sven Burchatz |
Team Manager | Simon Brookhouse |
Race Drivers | Supercars Championship: 5. Lochie Dalton [1] (Wildcard) 6. Cam Waters 55 Thomas Randle Super2 Series: 5. Brad Vaughan 6. Lochie Dalton |
Race Engineers | Supercars: 5. Dilan Talabani [1] 6. Sam Potter 55. Chris Stuckey Super2 Series: 5. Daniel Veronese 6. Dilan Talabani |
Chassis | Supercars Championship: Ford Mustang GT S650 Super2 Series: Ford Mustang GT S550 |
Debut | 2003 |
Drivers' Championships | 1 (2015) |
Round wins | 29 |
Race wins | 78 |
Pole positions | 59 |
2022 position | 5/6: 3rd (4655pts) 55/56: 12th (2318pts) |
Tickford Racing (formerly known as Prodrive Racing Australia and Ford Performance Racing) is an Australian motor racing team which competes in the Supercars Championship. The team currently campaigns two Ford Mustangs, with their current drivers being Cam Waters and Thomas Randle. Tickford Racing also competes in the Super2 Series with Brad Vaughan and Lochie Dalton.
The team has won the Bathurst 1000 twice, in 2013 (Winterbottom/Richards) and in 2014 (Mostert/Morris). They have won the driver's championship once, in 2015 with Mark Winterbottom.
In December 2002, Prodrive purchased Glenn Seton Racing, and renamed it Ford Performance Racing as part of a marketing push to link the Prodrive-owned Ford Performance Vehicles (formerly Tickford) road car range to the popular V8 Supercars. Along with this renaming came a huge expansion programme – the team expanded from one car driven by Glenn Seton to three; Seton, Craig Lowndes and David Besnard. The team moved into a new headquarters adjacent to the FPV factory in Campbellfield, Melbourne, and the crew expanded as well. The third car was entered using Rod Nash Racing's Racing Entitlement Contract (REC). While other teams such had received major Ford support in the years since, it became the first official Ford factory team since the Ford Works Team of 1962 to 1973.
The team's early years were somewhat disappointing, given the fact the team was one of the best funded in V8 Supercars. Lowndes had his moments in 2003, including a round win at Phillip Island, and a second-place finish at Bathurst driving with Seton. Lowndes finished the year 5th in the championship, with Seton and Besnard well down the order. In 2004, the team downsized to two cars. Lowndes and Seton both had disappointing years, plagued by engine dramas, a lack of test days, and a lack of comparable data (their cars were built to different specifications). While the pair did start to find some pace at the end of the year (they finished second at Bathurst again), they both decided to move at the end of the year – Lowndes to Triple Eight Race Engineering and Seton to Dick Johnson Racing.
Jason Bright and Greg Ritter joined for the 2005 season. Bright had a consistent year, and finished inside the top 10, while Ritter was disappointing, David Brabham replaced him for the final two rounds. In 2006, Mark Winterbottom joined the team. Bright scored multiple front-row starts, including three pole positions. He won the inaugural round in Bahrain, the Desert 400, and came 6th in the championship. Winterbottom enjoyed a very consistent run to finish third in the championship. The pair won the Sandown 500. FPR came second in the team's championship behind the HSV Dealer Team.
Bright left FPR at the end of the 2006 season to drive for his own Britek Motorsport outfit, with Steven Richards recruited to replace him. The team continued to take the challenge to the front-running teams. The most disappointing moment in 2007 was when Winterbottom left the circuit late in the race while leading at Bathurst. In 2008 Winterbottom challenged for the championship, but Jamie Whincup managed to finish the championship ahead of Winterbottom while Richards finished 8th.
In 2009, the new FG Falcon was debuted. While Triple Eight already had the speed, FPR struggled with only one win from Mark Winterbottom during the season with Steven Richards finishing a best of 3rd. The team also struggled at Bathurst again with the No. 6 car driven by Winterbottom and Richards caught fire on lap 50 while the second car driven by Dean Canto and Luke Youlden crashed late in the race. Mark Winterbottom and Steven Richards finished 5th and 13th in the championship.
In 2010, Winterbottom finished 3rd and Richards 15th. For 2011, Will Davison replaced Richards, who was retained as an endurance co-driver for Winterbottom. Winterbottom finished in 3rd place for the championship while Davison finished in 7th. In 2012, FPR were strong challengers for the championship, Winterbottom finishing 3rd with Davison finishing 4th.
In January 2013, the team was sold by Prodrive to Rusty French and Rod Nash. [2] In the 2013 season, Mark Winterbottom and Steven Richards won the Bathurst 1000. Davison finished the season in third, Winterbottom fourth. Chaz Mostert joined the team in 2014, replacing Will Davison. FPR won the 2014 Bathurst 1000 with Mostert partnered by Paul Morris.
In 2015, Ford Performance Racing was renamed as Prodrive Racing Australia, as a result of Ford's decision to progressively withdraw its FPV brand and V8 Supercars support by 2016. The team introduced the Ford FG X Falcon, the first new Falcon since 2009. After a slow start, the team achieved considerable success in the next section of the season, with eleven out of fifteen race wins between the third event (the Perth Super Sprint) and the eighth event (the Sydney Motorsport Park Super Sprint). Winterbottom, co-driving with Steve Owen, then went on to win the 2015 Wilson Security Sandown 500, leading home a team one-two with Mostert and Cam Waters in second. It was the team's first win at the event since 2006. At the 2015 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, Mostert had a substantial crash in Friday qualifying, ruling his car out for the weekend and himself out for the rest of the season. This left Winterbottom with a large championship lead entering the final rounds, and while he didn't win another race after Sandown, Winterbottom held on to win his, and the team's first drivers' championship. The team was leading the teams' championship until the final round, in which it was overtaken by long-time rivals Triple Eight.
In 2016, Mostert [3] was moved to customer team Rod Nash Racing for sponsorship purposes, with Cam Waters joining the team full-time in car No. 6 alongside defending champion Winterbottom. The team only won 2 races, both with Winterbottom who finished the championship in 6th place. Waters finished his first season in 19th, with his best finish being 4th place at the Bathurst 1000 with Jack Le Brocq. In 2017 the team continued with the same driver lineup, with its only race win being the Sandown 500 with Waters and co-driver Richie Stanaway. Winterbottom finished the championship in 6th, while Waters finished in 8th place.
In 2016, Prodrive Racing Australia management re-formed the Ford-aligned vehicle enhancer, Tickford.
In 2018, the team was rebranded as Tickford Racing, with Stanaway joining the team in car No. 56. The Rod Nash Racing REC was moved to the team with Mostert, officially making Tickford Racing a 4 car team. [4]
From 2010 to 2017, the team has prepared a customer car for Rod Nash Racing. Paul Dumbrell drove in 2010 and 2011 before David Reynolds took over in 2012, with notable results being a race win at the 2013 Armor All Gold Coast 600, a second place at the 2012 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 and 3rd in the driver's championship in 2015, with Dean Canto as his co-driver. From 2016, Chaz Mostert raced with Rod Nash Racing, winning 3 races and the Pirtek Enduro Cup the following season with Steve Owen. The Rod Nash Racing REC is now run under the Tickford Racing name with Mostert and Owen.
In 2013, the team took on a second customer car for Team 18. The Schwerkolt entry was driven by Alex Davison in 2013, with Jack Perkins replacing Davison for 2014. Schwerkolt and his team split with FPR prior to the 2015 season, moving to Walkinshaw Racing for 2015. [5]
Super Black Racing replaced the No. 18 Schwerkolt entry for 2015, with Andre Heimgartner the driver of Car No. 111. Chris Pither replaced Heimgartner for the final two rounds of the 2015 season and continued with the team for 2016. After the 2016 season, the team sold its Racing Entitlement Contract to Tim Blanchard Racing. [6]
In 2017, Britek Motorsport replaced Super Black Racing as the team's second customer entry. Team owner Jason Bright drove the team's No. 56 entry with Garry Jacobson co-driving. After 2017, Bright retired from full-time driving and the REC was leased to Matt Stone Racing. [7]
After running its first Supercars season on its own, 23Red Racing became a satellite operation for 2019 with Tickford re-building the teams Ford Falcon into a Ford Mustang for the 2019 season. The car was driven by Will Davison, a former driver of FPR. In May 2020, 23Red Racing announced it was withdrawing from the Supercars Championship, due to the loss of their major backer Milwaukee Tools. This was a result of the economic impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic. The team was merged back to Tickford with a new number.
Tickford Racing has run a number of customer cars for other franchise holders, the first in 2007 where the No. 021 Team Kiwi Racing BF Falcon driven by Paul Radisich was prepared for the first few rounds of the season. In 2008, FPR prepared the No. 777 Ford Rising Stars Racing BF Falcon of Michael Patrizi. For the 2015 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, the team ran a third customer car, a wildcard entry for Renee Gracie and Simona de Silvestro known as the Harvey Norman Super Girls.
The team has also run entries in the second-tier Dunlop Super2 Series in recent years. The first of these was in 2010 when the team ran James Moffat in a BF Falcon. This was followed by entering Chaz Mostert in 2011 and 2012 using an FG Falcon. In 2014 and 2015, the team ran Cam Waters in an older generation (pre-2013) FG Falcon in the Development Series, winning the championship in 2015.
In 2016, the team expanded to two (2015-spec) FG X Falcon entries for Garry Jacobson and Jack Le Brocq. The pairing finished first and second in the championship respectively. In 2017, the team continued to run FG X Falcons, for defending champion Jacobson and Josh Kean. They also ran a wildcard entry at the Sydney round with Richie Stanaway, who achieved two 3rd-place finishes and a race win in the 4 races held. Jacobson finished the championship in 6th position while Kean finished in 19th. For 2018 and 2019 the team only fielded one FG X Falcon for Thomas Randle. In 2020, the team will field reigning Super3 champion Broc Feeney in one FG X Falcon. In 2021 the team will field Zak Best in the same FG X Falcon used by Broc Feeney.
Year | Car | Pos | Points |
---|---|---|---|
2005 | Ford Falcon BA | 8th | 2443 |
2006 | Ford Falcon BA | 2nd | 5817 |
2007 | Ford Falcon BF | 4th | 788 |
2008 | Ford Falcon BF | 2nd | 5308 |
2009 | Ford Falcon FG | 4th | 4104 |
2010 | Ford Falcon FG | 4th | 4369 |
2011 | Ford Falcon FG | 2nd | 5080 |
2012 | Ford Falcon FG | 2nd | 6506 |
2013 | Ford Falcon FG | 2nd | 5617 |
2014 | Ford Falcon FG | 2nd | 5244 |
2015 | Ford Falcon FG X | 2nd | 5554 |
2015 | Ford Falcon FG X | 2nd | 5554 |
2016 | Ford Falcon FG X | 4th | 3962 |
2017 | Ford Falcon FG X | 3rd | 4416 |
2018 | Ford Falcon FG X | 3rd | 4999 |
2019 | Mustang GT | 3rd | 5294 |
2020 | Mustang GT | 3rd | 3521 |
2021 | Mustang GT | 3rd | 4016 |
2022 | Mustang GT | 3rd | 4656 |
2023 | Mustang GT | 4th | 3667 |
2024 | Mustang GT | 3rd* | 2066* |
Positions based on highest Tickford team between 2016 and 2023. This is because Tickford had to split into two teams on account of 4 cars.
The following is a list of drivers who have driven for the team in the Supercars Championship, in order of their first appearance. Drivers who only drove for the team on a part-time basis are listed in italics.
The following is a list of drivers who have driven for the team in the Super2 Series, in order of their first appearance. Drivers who only drove for the team on a part-time basis are listed in italics.
Steven James Richards is a New Zealand-Australian racing driver, currently competing in the Porsche Carrera Cup Australia Championship.
Walkinshaw Andretti United is an Australian motor racing team based in the Melbourne suburb of Clayton. The team, initially branded as the Holden Racing Team, used to field Holden Commodores in the Supercars Championship before making the switch to Ford Mustangs for the 2023 season. The two cars are currently driven by Ryan Wood and Chaz Mostert.
Mark James "Frosty" Winterbottom is an Australian professional racing driver. He currently competes in the Repco Supercars Championship, driving the No. 18 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Team 18. His career highlights include winning the 2013 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, twice winning the Sandown 500 and receiving the Mike Kable Young Gun Award in 2003. Winterbottom has also won his maiden championship title in the 2015 International V8 Supercars Championship, making it the first title for Ford in five years. He also voices himself in the Australian version of the hit 2011 Pixar film, Cars 2.
Jason Paul Bright is a retired Australian racing driver who competed in the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship. He drove the No. 56 Ford FG X Falcon for Britek Motorsport, a satellite team of Prodrive Racing Australia, before retiring from full-time racing at the end of the 2017.
Jamie David Whincup is an Australian professional racing driver competing in the Supercars Championship. He currently is team principal for Triple Eight Race Engineering. He has driven the No. 88 Holden ZB Commodore, won a record seven Supercars championship titles, four Bathurst 1000 victories, and a Bathurst 12 Hour victory. Whincup is the all-time record holder in the Supercars Championship for race wins, at 125 career wins. He is also the first driver to win the Jason Richards Memorial Trophy twice at Pukekohe Park Raceway in Auckland, New Zealand.
Rod Nash Racing is a Supercars Championship racing entity, owned by Rod Nash. Nash co-owns Tickford Racing and since 2018, Rod Nash Racing has run under the Tickford name.
The 2010 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 was a motor race for V8 Supercars. The race, which was held on Sunday, 10 October 2010 at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia was Race 18 of the 2010 V8 Supercar Championship Series. It was the fourteenth running of the Australian 1000 race, first held after the organisational split over the Bathurst 1000 that occurred in 1997. It was also the 53rd race for which the lineage can be traced back to the 1960 Armstrong 500 held at Phillip Island.
Chaz Michael Mostert is an Australian professional racing driver competing in the Repco Supercars Championship. He currently drives the No. 25 Ford Mustang GT for Walkinshaw Andretti United. Mostert was the winner of the 2021 Bathurst 1000 with Lee Holdsworth and has also previously won the 2014 Bathurst 1000 with Paul Morris and the 2010 Australian Formula Ford Championship.
The 2013 International V8 Supercars Championship was a Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile-sanctioned international motor racing series for V8 Supercars that was based in Australia. It was the fifteenth running of the V8 Supercar Championship Series and the seventeenth series in which V8 Supercars contested the premier Australian touring car title. The championship was contested over thirty-six races, starting with the Clipsal 500 Adelaide on 2 March 2013, and finishing with the Sydney Telstra 500 V8 Supercars on 8 December. The series' calendar also expanded, travelling to the United States for the first time for a race at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.
Cameron Christopher Waters is an Australian professional racing driver who competes in the Repco Supercars Championship. He currently drives the No. 6 Ford Mustang GT for Tickford Racing. Waters last competed part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 60 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for RFK Racing, and part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 66 Ford F-150 for ThorSport Racing. He is the cousin of Australian Superbike champion Josh Waters and currently holds the record for the youngest driver to compete in the Bathurst 1000, after winning the Shannons Supercar Showdown reality TV show in 2011. Waters won the 2015 V8 Supercar Dunlop Series with Prodrive Racing Australia in a Ford FG Falcon.
The 2013 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 was an Australian touring car motor race for V8 Supercars, the twenty-ninth race of the 2013 International V8 Supercars Championship. It was held on 13 October 2013 at the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales.
The 2014 International V8 Supercars Championship was an FIA-sanctioned international motor racing series for V8 Supercars. It was the sixteenth running of the V8 Supercars Championship and the eighteenth series in which V8 Supercars have contested the premier Australian touring car title.
The 2014 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 was an Australian touring car race for V8 Supercars, the thirtieth race of the 2014 International V8 Supercars Championship, held on 12 October 2014 at the Mount Panorama Circuit on the outskirts of Bathurst, New South Wales.
The 2015 International V8 Supercars Championship was an FIA-sanctioned international auto racing series for V8 Supercars. It was the seventeenth running of the V8 Supercar Championship Series and the nineteenth series in which V8 Supercars have contested the premier Australian touring car title.
The 2016 International V8 Supercars Championship was an FIA-sanctioned international motor racing series for Supercars. It was the eighteenth running of the Supercars Championship and the twentieth series in which Supercars have contested the premier Australian touring car title.
The 2015 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 was a motor race for V8 Supercars held on 11 October 2015 at the Mount Panorama Circuit, Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It was the twenty-fifth race of the 2015 International V8 Supercars Championship.
The 2016 Coates Hire Ipswich SuperSprint was a motor racing event for Supercars, held on the weekend of 22 to 24 July 2016. The event was held at Queensland Raceway in Ipswich, Queensland, and consisted of one race of 120 kilometres and one race of 200 km in length. It was the eighth event of fourteen in the 2016 International V8 Supercars Championship and hosted Races 16 and 17 of the season. The event was the 16th running of the Ipswich SuperSprint.
The 2018 Supercars Championship was an FIA-sanctioned international motor racing series for Supercars. It was the twentieth running of the Supercars Championship and the twenty-second series in which Supercars have contested the premier Australian touring car title. Teams and drivers competed in thirty-one races at sixteen venues across Australia and New Zealand for the championship titles. Scott McLaughlin won his maiden title at the final race in Newcastle, while Red Bull Holden Racing Team won the Teams Championship at Pukekohe.
The 2019 Supercars Championship was the twenty-first running of the Supercars Championship and the twenty-third series in which Supercars have contested the Australian Touring Car Championship, the premier title in Australian motorsport. The 2019 championship also included the running of the 1,000th Australian Touring Car Championship race, which was contested at the Melbourne 400.
The 2019 Bathurst 1000 was a motor racing event for Supercars which was held on the weekend of 10–13 October 2019. It was held at the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia and featured a single 1000 kilometre race. The event was the eleventh of fourteen in the 2019 Supercars Championship and incorporated Race 25 of the series. It was also the opening round of the 2019 Enduro Cup.
Media related to Prodrive Racing Australia at Wikimedia Commons