Blogs

Ford Australia today announced a new partnership with Dick Johnson's Queensland-based V8 Supercar team, Jim Beam Racing, for the 2010 season.

Jim Beam Racing will compete in the 2010 V8 Supercar Championship Series with direct factory support from Ford, in addition to the engineering and technical assistance the team received during 2009, following an internal review of its motorsport sponsorship program.

A new financial package will see the Ford logo and corporate branding make its return to the Jim Beam Racing V8 Supercars following three months of intensive discussions between Ford Australia President and CEO Marin Burela and Jim Beam Racing team co-owner Charlie Schwerkolt.

"Ford is extremely pleased to be able to expand its partnership with Jim Beam Racing for 2010 and offer the team enhanced support for the upcoming season," said Ford Australia President and CEO, Marin Burela.




"Dick Johnson is an icon of the sport and a motorsport legend. His name and his team have been synonymous with the Ford brand over a long period of time, so it's fitting that we can continue to be so inextricably linked in the world of motorsport in Australia."

Jim Beam Racing was one of the best performing Ford teams in 2009, finishing the year on a high with James Courtney winning the final race of the season at the Sydney Telstra 500, so they are well placed to carry that momentum into the new season.

"The discussions with Ford, in particular Marin Burela, have been refreshing and our performance on track in 2009 has certainly helped in our discussions to re-engage in 2010," said Jim Beam Racing team co-owner Charlie Schwerkolt.

"It is such a positive move by Ford to increase its support of the team and, in turn, its ultimate support of the V8 Supercar category as a whole, and we look forward to a great partnership in 2010."

Jim Beam Racing co-owner Dick Johnson has also reiterated the team's pleasure at the enhanced partnership with Ford.

"This team and I have had a long association with Ford and I am very pleased that we have been able to enhance that partnership this year."

Jim Beam Racing's new livery, including Ford branding, will be seen for the first time at the V8 Supercars season launch in Sydney tonight. It will make its track debut at Abu Dhabi next week, with a special livery designed for the Middle East rounds.

Forum discussion here: http://theblueovalnetwork.com/group/v8-supercars-g...


http://www.djr.com.au/jim-beam-racing-news-article...

Forty years after its namesake became a road racing legend, the BOSS is back on track for 2010 with a new 5.0-liter V-8 engine.

In honor of the 40th anniversary of Parnelli Jones’ 1970 Trans-Am championship in a Mustang BOSS 302 prepared by Bud Moore Engineering, Ford Racing is introducing the BOSS 302R, a factory-built race car ready for track days and road racing in a number of Grand-Am, SCCA and NASA classes.



Ready to race
The Mustang BOSS 302R is a serialized off-road-only vehicle ready to race. Each base model will come with a 5.0-liter four-valve engine and a six-speed manual transmission with a roll cage, race seats, safety harness, data acquisition and race dampers/springs, and a Brembo brake and tire package, starting at an MSRP of $79,000.

And, with a special Grand-Am Homologation Package (M-FR500-BOSS R1), it will also be ready to compete in the Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge series (formerly known as KONI Challenge), starting with the season-opening race in Daytona on Jan. 29, 2010. As of today, five BOSS 302R race cars will be delivered to customers ready to race in Daytona. MSRP of the BOSS 302R1 is $129,000.

The Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge-ready Mustang BOSS 302R will feature a sealed high-output race engine with an upgraded cooling system, a close-ratio six-speed transmission with integral shifter, a seam-welded body, race suspension/KONI dampers and ABS brake tuning, race performance exhaust and a high-speed balance one-piece driveshaft.

A winning track record
The BOSS 302R follows in the very successful footsteps of its most recent road racing predecessor – the Mustang FR500C from Ford Racing. In 2005, when the Mustang FR500C debuted at Daytona, the first car was delivered on Wednesday of that week and won the KONI Challenge race on Friday.

In five years of competition since then, the Mustang FR500C has won three Triple Crown championships of driver, team and manufacturer’s titles in KONI competition including back-to-back (2008 and 2009). The FR500C has also seen success in FIA GT4 competition winning the 2007 and 2008 driver’s championships.

Each Ford Racing factory-built production-based turnkey race car has won its competition debut.

Available through Ford dealers, a total of 50 BOSS 302R Mustangs will be built by Ford Racing. Delivery is anticipated in the third quarter of 2010.

For more information on Ford Racing Performance Parts, please visit www.fordracingparts.com.

Quotes
“To keep pace with consumer demand, the Ford team has built modern versions of the most iconic performance Mustangs over the years. From Shelbys to Bullitt, Mach and Cobra Jet, it is now time for BOSS to join the list of America’s most coveted Mustangs. The original BOSS 302 was a championship-winning legend and the new Mustang BOSS 302R will carry on the tradition. The Mustang was born to race from the start, and this new Mustang is bred to win.”
– Jamie Allison, Director, Ford North America Motorsports

“We expect the BOSS 302R to continue the successful tradition of winning with factory-built production-based race cars from Ford Racing. The FR500C and FR500S road racing Mustangs, and the Mustang FR500CJ (Cobra Jet) for drag racing have proven to be great cars for our customers, helping teams win races and championships. We believe that the BOSS 302R will provide that same sort of competitive product for our customers with the tradition you can only get from Ford Racing.”
– Jamie Allison, Director, Ford North America Motorsports

“Racing has long served as a technical proving ground for production engines. What’s good enough for the streets is now good enough for the racetrack. The 5.0-liter block and architecture in the Mustang BOSS 302R is the same as the 2011 Mustang GT.”
– Jamie Allison, Director, Ford North America Motorsports

“We have a great team on the BOSS 302R project. Between our partners at AutoAlliance International, where the Mustang is built, Team Mustang, Multimatic and the entire Ford Racing team, we have once again proven to be a leader in turnkey production-based race cars.”
– Andy Slankard, Ford Racing Engineering Supervisor and the Lead Engineer on the BOSS 302R project
source ford raicng

Autoweek spills more beans on the 2011 Ford Mustang's 5.0-liter V8

AutoWeek has decided to let the cat get just a little bit further out of the bag this morning following last night's first bit of embargo breakage regarding the 2011 Ford Mustang GT and its 5.0-liter V8 engine. So, by now you've heard that the new powerplant puts out 412 ponies, or 83 horsepower-per-liter. Now, AW wants you to know it also offers up 390 pound-feet of torque and that peak power comes at a screaming 6,500 RPM.



The new powertrain combination will also return 25 miles per gallon, says AW. How does it manage this feat? With an aluminum engine block with cast cylinder sleeves and brand-new heads with four valves per cylinder, vertical intake ports and twin independent variable valve timing. Don't forget the tuned exhaust headers, a forged steel crankshaft with four-bolt main bearings plus new pistons and connecting rods.

And what about the transmission? Your choice of either the 6R80 automatic transmission or the MT82 six-speed manual. We now return you to your regularly-scheduled programming... until the next bit of embargo breakage, of course.

2011 Ford Mustang GT to offer 412-horsepower 5.0-liter V8

Thanks to a loose-lipped Facebookian that couldn't help sharing insider information and a quick follow-up post from Inside Line, we can now confirm the return of the iconic 5.0-liter Mustang GT for 2011. Even better news is the fact that the Mustang GT's new mill will crank out an impressive 412 horsepower.



By way of comparison, the 2010 Chevy Camaro SS has a 6.2-liter V8 with as much as 422 horses when mated to a six-speed manual and the 2010 Dodge Challenger SRT8 has a 6.1-liter Hemi that offers 425 ponies. And remember, both of those rivals are considerably heavier than the Mustang.

As much as we'd like to unload more goods on the 2011 Mustang, you'll just have to wait until Ford's good and ready. Or someone blows another embargo, whichever comes first.

source autoblog.com