CARTOURINGV8

The recently-announced unity between Fujitsu Racing and Stone Brothers Racing will begin at this weekend's Falken Tasmania Challenge.

Jason Bright's Fujitsu Racing Ford Falcon will run with a Stone Brothers Racing engine at this weekend's 13th V8 Supercar Championship Series round in Tasmania.

The decision to run with SBR power comes earlier than expected, but follows last week's announcement that the Fujitsu team will integrate with SBR from 2009 as both teams attempt to match the firepower of front-running teams such as HRT and Triple Eight.

"To get moving on the 2009 plans, we felt it was very important to start the transition now," said Bright, who will renew his links with SBR at the Falken Tasmania Challenge, "The SBR engine shop is extremely impressive and they have done a great job, not only for themselves, but also Triple Eight Race Engineering and Paul Cruickshank Racing.

"On the track, we are really looking forward to seeing what it can do for our performance. We have been happy with our chassis this year and this could be a catalyst that jumps us up towards the front."

Fujitsu Racing's chief engineer Geoff Slater has been working with the team to ensure the transplant the SBR engine goes smoothly.

"It might be the same type of Ford Racing V8 engine, but there has been quite a bit of work to have the SBR engine marry with our chassis," he revealed, "We now have it all sorted and are looking forward to seeing what it can provide us in Tassie.

"The engine change has given us some extra work, but it has not altered our normal preparation. The track has plenty of character and we always seem to get some inclement weather sometime over the weekend as well to throw a cat amongst the pigeons. We are prepared for whatever challenge we will face."

Bright is also looking forward to returning to Symmons Plains on a personal level, hoping that he can return to the sort of form he had shown there in the past.

"I have always enjoyed racing in Tasmania, including my days in Formula Ford," he reflected, "The track keeps you very busy with some high-speed stuff and the tightest corner of the entire series."

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