Paul Dumbrell joins FPR

DUMBRELL TO SEE OUT CAREER WITH FORD

Paul Dumbrell has revealed he will end his career 'on a high' at Ford Performance Racing.

The Holden driver, who has never stepped foot in a Ford, said the prospect of driving one of FPR's FGs in the 2010 season was too good to miss.

He will take the helm of Rod Nash Racing's FPR-prepared 55 car, sponsored by The Bottle-O, and says he expects solid results right from the start.

Dumbrell drove his first-ever Bathurst race for Rod Nash and is a former team-mate of FPR's Steve Richards. He has signed a three-year deal with RNR and says he will retire to pursue other business interests in 2013.

Paul Dumbrell
2010 driver of The Bottle-O FPR Falcon

"Rod guided the early part of my career. It's a privileged opportunity to finish under the same guidance with one of the three premier race teams in Australia.

"Rod, The Bottle-O and FPR will be the finish of my career. I've had great opportunities throughout but have a lot of things outside of motorsport as well and want to leave on a high note.

"It was a big decision to move to Ford from Holden; I've driven Holdens my whole career. It played on my mind a lot because I've had a great career there but with what Ford is doing and what FPR is doing over the next couple of years, I had to have an opportunity in what has been one of the most competitive cars over the last couple of years.

"I was team-mates with Richo for four years and got along very well and I know Frosty has an avid interest in training, as I do, and we grew up racing go karts together. It should be easy to fit in and I'm sure we'll hit the ground running and deliver results straight up at the double header in February."

Steve Richards
Castrol FPR Falcon

"I think the cars nowadays are reasonably similar in the way you drive them so I don't think that will be too much of a problem for Paul and I'm sure the Ford people will open their arms to him because they get another good driver on the blue side.

"He'll have A-grade, top-notch gear at FPR and if they do the right job with the tools, they can do a very good job right from the outset.

"Paul is a really down-to-Earth, calm guy so will fit in really well. It won't be difficult for him or the team; he's a good guy."

Rod Nash
RNR Team Principal

"I got a number of approaches from different drivers but knew I wanted Paul. He's already driving for a reasonably high profile team but with the FPR deal being confirmed, it gave me rock-solid backing to offer him something great. He still left me hanging for a while.

"I've watched him further his career and gain experience so I've got a fair idea of his nature; he's a thinking driver and likes to have all the ducks in a row. With an operation like FPR, bringing in a professional driver should see us be reasonably quick straight away."

-credit: fpr