KEY POINTS:
Over the past six years there have been 18 races of the Australian Super V8s at Pukekohe - and Ford have won only once.
This year is the last chance for Ford to go away with a Pukekohe win, as the New Zealand leg of the Super V8s moves to Hamilton next year.
This is especially significant for Ross and Jimmy Stone, of Stone Brothers Racing, as this is their home track. The Australian-based Kiwi brothers have won three championship titles and two Bathurst victories, but have been unable to get a Ford to take outright victory at Pukekohe.
They have been close, finishing on the podium in five of the six years. Marcos Ambrose was third in 2001 and 2002 and second in 2004, and Russell Ingall was second in 2005 and third last year. The only time a Ford crossed the line first was when SBR's Ambrose took the opening race in 2004, and finished runner-up to Jason Bright.
The brothers grew up in Onewhero. Ross was 9 and Jimmy 15 when they went to their first race at Pukekohe in 1962. Their introduction to the sport was the New Zealand Formula Ford series in the mid-1970s. Ross won the NZ Gold Stars in the 1977-78 season driving a car designed by the brothers.
The Stone brothers began their association with Ford in 1988, running Sierras. Jimmy moved to BMW's Australian factory-backed team in 1990, then reunited at Dick Johnson Racing in 1992.
Their first taste of victory was at Bathurst in 1994 when they engineered the winning Falcon of Johnson and John Bowe. By 1998 they had set up their own team, and had hired Jason Bright, who teamed with Steven Richards to win at Mount Panorama.
"We've been trying to win at Pukekohe," said Ross.
"It's the one thing Jimmy and I want more than anything else. At the start of the season, we planned to give this one our best chance. We set aside our best engine and told our drivers to give it their best shot."
After dominating the championship for three years they struggled by their own high standards last year. Ambrose claimed their first championship victory in 2003, when Ingall was seventh. They finished one-two in 2004, and in 2005 Ingall won his first championship ahead of Ambrose in third place.
The Holden of Rick Kelly has the number one plate this year, and SBR are as determined as they have ever been to regain the number one spot.
They would dearly love to do it, and would dearly love to do it at Pukekohe, on their home track.
Ross says changes in the off-season have created a fresh atmosphere at SBR. But he is under no illusion that the battle for V8 Supercar success is getting more difficult.
"Every year it's getting tighter and tougher and other teams are closing the gap. If you're doing what you did last year it's just not good enough. You have to keep on improving."
After two rounds SBR are in fourth place with 109 points, 108 behind the leading Toll HSV Dealer Team.
