KEY POINTS:
One of New Zealand's top drivers, Paul "The Rat" Radisich, will return to Ford this year with the Team Kiwi Racing Falcon V8 in the 2007 V8 Supercar Championship series.
"It's a bit like coming home, as all of my major successes have been in Ford race cars,"
said Radisich of the deal, in which Team Kiwi Racing (TKR) will benefit from a technical alliance with Ford Performance Racing.
"This package is by far the best one I've had in V8 Supercars and I'm really excited about this year."
Ford NZ is happy too. "We are delighted to welcome Paul back to the Ford family and look forward to a long and successful association with him and with Team Kiwi Racing," said Richard Matheson, managing director of Ford New Zealand.
TKR has already unveiled the Kiwi livery of the black, white and silver TKR BF MkII Falcon.
"Once again, we look forward to battling against the Aussies in the V8 Supercar Championship and, with the package that we have for the year, we believe we are in our best ever position to win a race," said David John, team owner of TKR.
"We established TKR in late 2000 as New Zealand's first fulltime V8 Supercar team and we remain committed to our charter of providing opportunities for talented Kiwi drivers and mechanics," John said.
"A big thank you to the New Zealand public for their assistance in helping us raise the money we needed after our crash at Bathurst."
Radisich broke an ankle and his sternum in the Bathurst crash. His decision to return to driving followed a thorough physical test in Queensland with the drivers from Ford Performance Racing.
It took a lot longer to recover than I expected," Radisich said.
"But I made it through an army-style boot camp with the Ford Performance boys and came through well, especially as I have not been able to put in that much training - mostly just swimming, but with a lot of physio work. I am excited about the prospect.
"This is a package with a good team, a good car and with outstanding technical back-up, so there's no reason we should not be on the pace from the start. I can't wait."
Since its debut in 2000 as a privateer team, TKR has secured a pole position, a podium finish and many top-ten results in the Australian V8 Championship. The team has also won three New Zealand Championship titles.
The TKR Falcon tested at Winton before its first outing in round one at Adelaide next month. New Zealand fans can see the Falcon in action on April 20 at the PlaceMakers V8 Supercar event at Pukekohe Park.