2010 FORD FALCON FG
FORD PERFORMANCE RACING FPR809
This is the latest of the four Falcon V8 Supercar chassis currently being campaigned in the South Island. It is owned by a bloke who’s somewhat responsible, directly or indirectly, for all four of these cars that are hooking gears and spitting flames on the Mainland’s tarmac.
Exposure to the Blue Oval came early for Richard Atkinson, custodian and pedaller of the 2010 Ford Performance Racing FG.
“For me, the racing journey started as a kid,” he explains. “My father was a Ford dealer mechanic, and looked after semi-factory-backed Lotus Cortinas, and later factorybacked Escorts.”
From there, it was rallying for Richard, who accumulated around 30 years of gravel bashing under his belt.
“I won a couple of New Zealand Clubman rally championships as a navigator, and one Mainland championship, then started co-driving for Garry Cliff — he’s got the SVG [Shane Van Gisbergen] Falcon now — in his Ralliart New Zealand days during the ’90s,” Richard says. “He’d eventually own the ex–Peter Brock Mobil Sierra, and, man, I’d just drool over that car.”
It might’ve helped that the Sierra had the Ford script on the nose cone, but Richard admits that the Aussie touring cars were the pinnacle — “all because of one word: Bathurst”. As for so many Kiwis, young and old alike, Bathurst day was a rite of passage, and, as the series — not to mention the race — made the transition from the Group A era to the thundering five-litre V8 years, it strengthened Richard’s resolve to park a V8 Supercar in his shed some day. “I instantly had a love for the V8 Supercars, but it took a number of years for me to finally be in the position to buy one.”
It’s a common tale, with family and business commitments taking centre stage for a little while, but Richard shot across the ditch and picked up the BJR06 BA Falcon — detailed elsewhere in this article — restoring it to its OzEmail livery around 2017–’18.
While Richard has gone on to purchase another — this time a Triple Eight–built FG bought as a wreck that is still under restoration — in the interim, he acquired “a genuine worksbuilt car: FPR809”. Built in conjunction with Prodrive, the FG radiates that professional race car vibe to a tee, with gemlike attention to detail and exacting fit and finish.
“I actually tried to purchase it three years ago,” Richard mentions. “It was owned by Matt White Motorsport, a leading development series team, and they didn’t want a bar of me initially.”
Comms lines remained open, and, as the realities of a Covid world set in, FPR809 eventually came up for sale, and Richard jumped.
“The appeal is predominantly that it was a Bathurst polesitter,” Richard explains, “so it was the fastest car around that track in 2010.”
Sure, a Bathurst winner would be the ultimate, but with that comes the associated price tag, so, in Richard’s eyes, the pole-sitter is the next best achievement for a tin-top at Mount Panorama.
“I DON’T THINK I COULD EVER SELL IT,” HE LAUGHS, MEANING THE FALCON IS SET TO GRACE KIWI TRACKS WHENEVER POSSIBLE
“It’s not until you sit up the top of the mountain on a Saturday afternoon that you really see what these things are capable of running at the ragged edge,” laughs Richard. With Mark Winterbottom and Luke Youlden on board, the car would lead from the green light, running strongly in the top three until, at lap 71, a deflated tyre sent Youlden into the wall. The team would rally to repair and finish ninth, but the Falcon actually had a pretty decent season.
With ‘Frosty’ steering it full-time in the main game, FPR809 would win three times at Hidden Valley, Townsville, and Symmons Plains, with 11 further podiums helping it to a third overall finish in the championship. The car’s career would continue until it won the Super3 championship in 2018 with Tyler Everingham at the wheel, capping off a storied journey. As the last of the Project Blueprint–era V8 Supercars, the FG looks as if it retains much of its production architecture, but Richard explains nothing could be further from the truth: “Only the firewall, bonnet, and boot lid are production panels; the roof and rear doors are 130mm shorter, and the floorpan is totally custom.”
As per the Project Blueprint regs, the Falcon shares common suspension pickup points with its General Motors adversaries, using a double-wishbone front and a nine-inch live-axle rear. Naturally, the factory-spec Ford five-litre D-spec engine beats out an aggressive tone, producing in the region of 650hp. Ohlins shocks keep the Falcon glued to the deck, with the spec 18-inch wheels and 280-section slicks on rolling duties.
“The aero on this later car is way superior to the older Falcons,” says Richard, “plus you sit further back and more central. It’s easier to drive too. I love driving it, and I love maintaining it in its correct specification.”
These are challenging cars to run, being pretty hightech bits of gear, and Richard credits Simon Grace of Performance Race Service, a former Erebus and DJR Team Penske engineer now based in Christchurch, with keeping the track experience smooth.
“I don’t think I could ever sell it,” he laughs — meaning the Falcon is set to grace Kiwi tracks whenever possible.