AN ex-Ford Performance Racing Falcon has joined the list of Supercars running throwback colours at this weekend’s Repco Bathurst 1000.
Dunlop Super3 Series runner Ray Hislop has returned his FG Falcon to the retro livery it ran in the hands of Mark Winterbottom and Steven Richards at the 2012 Bathurst 1000.
That scheme was a tribute to the most famous Ford Bathurst victory of all – the one-two finish achieved by the Moffat Ford Dealers squad in 1977.
FPR’s recreation of the Moffat team’s success came amid the 50th year of Bathurst celebrations that had many cars running colours of yesteryear.
Unfortunately, FPR could not recapture the Moffat magic, with Winterbottom/Richards finishing 11th after tyre trouble required an additional pitstop late in the race.
FPR also ran its Will Davison/John McIntyre entry in the retro scheme that weekend, which scored pole but then suffered a litany of issues in the race.
Hislop, who was a Supercars privateer in the 1990s, purchased the ex-Winterbottom Falcon earlier this year and had previously run it in plain blue.
Winterbottom originally debuted the FPR-built FG in late 2011 (finishing fourth in that year’s Bathurst 1000) and used it throughout the following season.
It was then sold to MW Motorsport and raced extensively in the Super2 and then Super3 categories.
This weekend’s Super3 grid also features two Triple Eight cars wearing their original colours, including David Murphy’s recently re-stickered Vodafone FG Falcon.
Supercars Championship teams Dick Johnson Racing and PremiAir Racing are meanwhile running retro schemes in the Bathurst 1000.
DJR is celebrating 1000 races with a remake of the Shell Helix colours it ran in 1997/98, while PremiAir’s has recreated Wayne Gardner Racing’s 1995 car for its Coca-Cola entry.
Matt Chahda Motorsport also embraced the Supercars heritage of sponsor Caltex today, displaying Russell Ingall’s 2003 Stone Brothers Falcon alongside its wildcard Commodore.
