MOTORSPORT: Big driver moves at Ford Performance Racing

Mark Winterbottom signs until 2016 and will be joined by young gun Chaz Mostert as Will Davison heads for an Erebus Mercedes – but can't say it

21-year-old gets Davison’s seat on four-year deal

Bathurst-winning Ford Performance Racing has signed its long-time lead driver Mark Winterbottom until the end of 2016, but Will Davison will depart at the end of this season – with 21-year-old Chaz Mostert to take the second FPR seat.

Davison is set to move to Betty Klimenko’s Erebus Motorsport team fielding the E63 AMG Mercedes-Benzes yet to notch a podium finish.

It will be 2009 Bathurst winner Davison’s third brand of car in five years – but it seems his switch may not be officially confirmed until the new year.

FPR announced the long extension of Winterbottom’s contract early today and said it would recall rising star Mostert from customer team Dick Johnson Racing, but curiously it made no mention of Davison.

It pointedly referred to Winterbottom and Mostert, who will be on a four-year deal, as “two drivers passionate about our team and committed to winning”.

However, Davison has said on his website that his relationship with FPR “remains amicable” and they would be competing to the maximum for the V8 Supercar Championship over the remaining three rounds – starting at this weekend’s Gold Coast 600, the last of the year’s endurance events with two 300km races.

Davison is fourth in the series points, 181 points behind Holden-mounted Jamie Whincup – with Whincup’s teammate Craig Lowndes and Winterbottom sandwiched between them. Lowndes trails Whincup by 114 points, while Winterbottom – winner of this month’s Bathurst 1000 with Steve Richards – is 142 behind Whincup and 39 ahead of Davison.

Mostert, a winner in his first season of V8 Supercar racing and who partnered New Zealander Ant Pederson to victory in the Hampton Downs 400 endurance round of the NZ V8 SuperTourer series last weekend, has been ear-marked for Ford’s flagship team – now owned by Rod Nash and Rusty French – for two years.

Mostert was “lent” to DJR this season to gain experience and, after his stunning victory at Ipswich’s Queensland Raceway in late July, Dick Johnson had hoped to retain him next year. However, FPR was keen to promote him, irrespective of Davison’s decision on whether to stay or go.

“To be able to call myself an official Ford factory driver is truly a dream come true,” Mostert said today. “I may only be young but I’ve been working my whole career towards this.

“It’s going to be cool driving alongside ‘Frosty’ Winterbottom. He has helped me so much already and we’ve come through the ranks in a similar way, so I am looking forward to learning as much as I can from him and the team.”

Winterbottom, yet to win a V8 Supercar Championship and unlucky at Bathurst until this year, said he was “very proud” that his contract extension will take him through to 11 years with FPR.

“FPR and Ford are like family,” Winterbottom said. “Winning Bathurst ticked off one of the goals we’ve been working towards, but now we want the championship too – so the stability we have with our engineering group, Ford [which has pledged its support to FPR for at least another year] and [sponsor] Pepsi Max provides the perfect platform.

“I am also really looking forward to working with Chaz – he is a great young guy and in just a few months he’s shown what he can do, so our fans should be really excited.”

It’s been a great month for FPR team chief Tim Edwards, announcing long-term deals with a combination of a vastly experienced winner and a young rising star within two weeks of the long-awaited Bathurst triumph.

“Mark agreed terms prior to his Bathurst win and, with an extension to our Ford deal, it is the ideal scenario to have our team continue with the most successful driver in our history,” Edwards said.

“He was already signed until the end of 2014, and the fact he wanted to recommit so early, and for so long, is a great endorsement. Chaz will be joining him and is here for at least the next four years, which gives us two drivers that are passionate about our team and committed to winning.

“That should make all our fans and sponsors happy.

“He is the most exciting talent to join the series in recent times and is a product of our development program, so it is personally very satisfying to see him graduate after such an impressive debut season.”

David Reynolds already has been confirmed to continue in the third FPR Falcon fielded for several years by Rod Nash Racing, but there is uncertainty about who will fill the fourth entry of Charlie Schwerkolt, now driven by Davison’s older brother Alex.

Will Davison will be filling a vacancy at Erebus created by the pending move of Tim Slade to Walkinshaw Performance in place of Russell Ingall.

Veteran expatriate Australian David Brabham has come to the Gold Coast this week to partner Slade in one of the three Erebus E63s in place of Andrew Thompson, who drove with Slade in the Sandown and Bathurst enduros.

Will Davison first won in V8 Supercar racing with DJR during his three years there (2006–2008), then moved to Holden Racing Team for 2009–2010, winning at Bathurst with Garth Tander in the first of those seasons, before joining FPR in 2011.

He had slumped to 22nd in the championship in his second year at HRT and has been seventh and fourth the past two years with FPR.

Davison has said on his website that his exit from the Blue Oval team is his decision.

“While I cannot yet share details of my plans for 2014 and beyond, I will continue to be involved with V8 Supercar racing at the highest level and am very excited about what the future holds,” he said.

“I’m obligated to not talk about the new program at this stage but I am sure everyone will understand my decision once the details emerge.

“While disappointed with my decision to leave FPR, the relationship remains amicable and together we are committed to earning the coveted number one at the conclusion of this year’s championship.

“I look forward to telling you more when I can.”

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MOTORSPORT: Big driver moves at Ford Performance Racing

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