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New wheels: Jamie Whincup will be in a new car in Perth.

V8 Supercars

Ford drivers have gone West to break a five year drought.

Holden has dominated proceedings at Barbagallo, a track that is on death row as far as V8 Supercars is concerned.

The Blue Oval teams have this weekend’s meeting and one more next year before to end the red supremacy before the track is cut from the V8 Supercar calendar.

Practice will run today, followed by qualifying and one 50 lap races on Saturday and then two 50 lap races on Sunday.

One of Ford’s best hopes is Jamie Whincup, who is desperate to come back after a costly mistake at the last Hamilton round.

Whincup destroyed his Team Vodafone Falcon in qualifying for the Hamilton race and was unable to compete in any of the racing.

The ‘golden duck’ saw Whincup lose the championship lead and a car, which the Triple Eight team has not even tried to fix.

Instead, it prepared a new chassis, which will be the final BF Falcon the team will build.

Triple Eight was planning to introduce the new car at Sandown, but fast-tracked the work on chassis 14 after Whincup’s big one.

Whincup ran the car for 20 laps at Queensland Raceway this week before it was sent over to Perth.

“After coming back from New Zealand with a destroyed car in a little under two weeks the guys have finished off a brand new chassis which we successfully shook down this morning,” Whincup says.

“Of course all cars feel a little different but at the same time the new car felt very tight in the steering and brakes and we proved that the pace should be fine.”

His team-mate Craig Lowndes had a mediocre result in New Zealand and is looking for an improvement at Barbagallo.

He said qualifying will be more important at Barbagallo than other tracks.

“It is important to qualify well at Barbagallo, it is a shorter track that always produces very close qualifying results,” Lowndes explained.

He said a good set-up was also crucial for longer runs.

“The track is quite technical and is hard on tyres, so it is critical to get a well balanced car,” Lowndes said.

Reigning champion and local boy, Garth Tander, dominated the Perth round last year, winning all three races in his HSV Dealer Team car.

While the Ford teams will be concentrating hard on end Holden’s winning run, they will also show respect for former Ford Australia president Geoff Polites, who passed away from cancer last month.

Black ovals bearing the word ‘Geoff’ will be placed on the Ford racers at Perth.

“Geoff Polites played an integral part in the development of Ford Australia’s role in V8 Supercars,” said Ford motorsport chief Ray Price.

“It is certainly fitting for V8 Supercar teams to have the opportunity to show their respect for a man who was heavily involved in the sport.