Stone Brothers Racing
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| Full name | Stone Brothers Racing |
|---|---|
| Base | Ipswich, Australia |
| Team principal | Ross Stone |
| Race drivers | 4.James Courtney 9. Russell Ingall |
| Model | Ford BF Falcon |
| Engine | SBR 5.0L V8 |
| Debut | 1998 |
| Constructors' Championships | 2 (2004,2005) |
| Drivers' Championships | 3 (Marcos Ambrose in 2003/2004; Russell Ingall in 2005) |
| Round Wins | 21 |
| Race victories | 37 |
| Pole positions | 25 |
| 2006 Placing | 4th |
| Bathurst 1000 Wins | 1 (1998) |
| Website | http://www.stonebrothersracing.com.au |
Stone Brothers Racing (SBR) is one of the premier motorsport teams competing in the Australian V8 Supercar series, formed in 1998 by experienced New Zealand-born motorsport veterans, Ross Stone and Jim Stone.
SBR has won a hat-trick of wins in the driver championship, with Marcos Ambrose in 2003/2004; and Russell Ingall in 2005. SBR won the Team Championship (combined points of both drivers) in 2004 and 2005, the former being a perfect 1-2 finish with the aforementioned Ambrose and Ingall respectively. 2003 also saw SBR win the V8 Development Series with Mark Winterbottom at the wheel.
In 1998, SBR won the Bathurst 1000 with its original drivers Jason Bright and Steven Richards.
SBR began with, and continue to campaign Ford Falcons. The team is also one of the leading engine builders in the V8 Supercars, supplying Triple Eight Race Engineering, Brad Jones Racing and Paul Cruickshank Racing with the powerful 5.0L SBRE V8.
SBR's current regular drivers are Russell Ingall driving the Caltex-sponsored #1 Falcon, and V8 rookie James Courtney in the Jeldwen-sponsored #4 Falcon. Joining them respectively in the Endurance Races for 2006 are Luke Youlden and Glenn Seton.
SBR uses Queensland Raceway in Ipswich as their test track.
[edit] History
SBR began in 1998, signing Jason Bright to drive a Pirtek-sponsored EL Falcon. Bright had a mixed year, with the highlight being a win in the Bathurst 1000 with co-driver Steven Richards. The team continued to show promise in 1999, with Bright scoring three poles, and three podiums including a win at the Darwin round.
Bright left the team as it expanded to a two-car operation, with Craig Baird taking his seat in the Pirtek car, while Tony Longhurst drove the new Caltex-sponsored entry. In a lean year, the team's best finish was a podium for Baird at Phillip Island.
SBR then opted for some young talent for the 2001 season, with Marcos Ambrose and David Besnard taking over the driving duties in the Pirtek and Caltex Falcons respectively. Ambrose won a round, took two podiums, and impressed with his qualifying speed. Besnard had a mixed year, taking one podium. Both drivers remained with the team for the 2002 season, and took three round wins between them; including a Queensland 500 enduro victory for Besnard, and a dominant win at Sandown for Ambrose.
In 2003, Ambrose continued to drive the Pirtek-sponsored SBR Falcon, but star driver Russell Ingall took over for the FPR-bound Besnard in the Caltex car. 2003 saw the introduction of the Project Blueprint parity rules, and the new BA Falcon for Ford, and the VY Commodore for Holden. On this new playing field, SBR was the dominant force, with Ambrose winning the championship and Ingall finishing 7th. Between them they won eight of thirteen rounds (6 to Ambrose, 2 for Ingall). Ambrose took 5 pole positions. Meanwhile, Mark Winterbottom won the Level Two Development Series in an SBR Falcon.
This dominance continued in the 2004 season, with Ambrose winning a second championship and Ingall finishing 2nd overall, giving SBR a historic 1-2 championship finish. The team recored 6 round wins - 5 to Ambrose and 1 to Ingall.
Among these round victories was an outstanding Sandown 500 victory to Ambrose and co-driver Greg Ritter - a race where Ambrose reset the lap record. The same race saw Ingall and his co-driver Cameron McLean come in 2nd for a 1-2 race finish.
In 2005, Ingall won the championship, finally shedding the dubious "bridesmaid" tag. Consistency and strategy, rather than outright speed and wins were crucial to Ingall's win. Ambrose had led the championship until he was taken out of the Bathurst 1000 by Greg Murphy. He went on to finish 3rd behind Ingall and Craig Lowndes. Ingall won a single round, while Ambrose took victories in the first and last rounds of the year. Both took multiple podiums, while Ambrose managed a pair of pole positions.
In both 2004 and 2005, SBR won the Team's Championship by comfortable margins.
2006 saw Ambrose leave V8 Supercar to pursue a career in NASCAR, and Pirtek withdrew its sponsorship. Former F1 Test Driver James Courtney was signed to drive the #4 car, now sponsored by JELD-WEN. Ingall continued in the Caltex entry, but couldn't defend his title - eventually finishing a disappointing eighth. Courtney improved throughout the season to finish 11th, and won Rookie of the Year. The highlight of the year was the team's performance at Bathurst, with Courtney and co-driver Glenn Seton 3rd, with Ingall and co-driver Luke Youlden coming in 4th.
This strong team result helped SBR to 4th in the Team's Championship for the year. For the 2007, both Ingall and Courtney will continue driving for SBR in new BF model Falcons.
[edit] The Stone Brothers
Ross and Jim Stone, two New Zealand-born brothers, are the team manager and chief engineer of SBR respectively. Ross won the New Zealand Formula Ford Championship twice in the 1970's. Since then, the Stone Brothers have been behind several winning teams, before forming Stone Brothers Racing in 1998. A highlight of their pre-SBR career was engineering the winning Falcon with Dick Johnson Racing at Bathurst.
| Teams contesting the 2007 V8 Supercar Championship Series | |||||||||
| Toll HSV Dealer Team | Holden Racing Team | Tasman Motorsport | Stone Brothers Racing | Ford Performance Racing | Jack Daniel's Racing | ||||
| 1 Rick Kelly 16 Garth Tander |
2 Mark Skaife 22 Todd Kelly |
3 Jason Richards 51 Greg Murphy |
4 James Courtney 9 Russell Ingall |
5 Mark Winterbottom 6 Steven Richards |
7 Shane Price 11 Jack Perkins |
||||
| WPS Racing | Team BOC | Dick Johnson Racing | Supercheap Auto Racing | Team Kiwi Racing | Britek Motorsport | ||||
| 8 Max Wilson 10 Jason Bargwanna |
12 Andrew Jones 14 Brad Jones |
17 Steven Johnson 18 Will Davison |
20 Paul Dumbrell 50 Cameron McConville |
021 Paul Radisich | 25 Jason Bright 26 Alan Gurr |
||||
| Garry Rogers Motorsport | Team Sirromet Wines | Autobarn Racing | TeamVodafone | Paul Cruickshank Racing | |||||
| 33 Lee Holdsworth 34 Dean Canto |
39 Fabian Coulthard 67 Paul Morris |
55 Steve Owen | 88 Jamie Whincup 888 Craig Lowndes |
111 John Bowe | |||||
