Mark 'Frosty' Winterbottom Claims First International V8 Supercars Championship

In 2015 Prodrive Racing Australia debuted the 2015 Ford Falcon FG X based #5 Pepsi Max International V8 Supercar

The International V8 Supercars series is a touring car racing category based in Australia and run as an International Series under Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) regulations. The vehicles used in the series are loosely based on road-going, four-door saloon cars originally focused on the Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore with more recent entries from Nissan, Mercedes-Benz, and Volvo. Similar to NASCAR in North America, V8 Supercars series regulations control many aspects of the car to ensure equality between the manufacturers as well as lowering the costs of building and repairing a car. Australian V8 Supercars events take place all across the Australian states and included one international race in Auckland, New Zealand for 2015.

Frosty began running K&N filters in the #5 Pepsi Max PRA Ford Falcon FG X at the Castrol Gold Coast 600 round of the V8 Supercars series

At the close of the 2015 V8 Supercars series in Sydney, Mark Winterbottom AKA “Frosty” claimed his first Australian V8 Supercars championship for 2015 in the K&N air filters equipped #5 Pepsi Max Prodrive Racing Australia (PRA) Ford Falcon FG X. Prodrive Racing Australia was established in December 2002 after Prodrive, the world’s largest independent automotive engineering company, bought Glenn Seton Racing. The team was then purchased from Prodrive by motorsport identities, Rod Nash and Rusty French in late 2012. In 2015 Frosty entered his tenth season with Prodrive Racing with his sights firmly set on a championship win. Frosty is considered one of the most consistent drivers in the V8 Supercars field and has finished in the top five in the championship every year since joining Prodrive Racing Australia.

At the close of the 2015 V8 Supercars series in Sydney, Mark Winterbottom AKA “Frosty” claimed his first Australian V8 Supercars championship

Frosty had already clinched the 2015 championship title heading into the Sydney 500 final round of the V8 Supercars series. Going into the final race, Mark Winterbottom said “I'm speechless to be honest, it hasn't really sunk in. To win this, I've been trying for so many years and I've stayed at the one team for such a long time as well. It's awesome to be part of V8 Supercars history. It's nice to be rewarded for the year that the team's had." After the race Winterbottom commented “It's probably the first time in three months that you've actually been able to enjoy racing again without mathematically trying to do the best scenario and stuff so it's cool. It was nice to finish the year on a track that is similar to where we will start next year as well so it was a good weekend but today was awesome. The morale of the team as well was really cool."

Mark Winterbottom gained Ford support in 2001 when he made the jump from karts to single-seater racing in the Victorian Formula Ford series. When Frosty made the move to V8 Supercars he claimed the Development Series title in a Ford Falcon on his first attempt. A move to the main series the following year attracted the attention of Ford’s factory team. Mark Winterbottom’s best championship finish was a second place in 2008 prior to claiming the 2015 championship. Winterbottom achieved eight race wins in the middle part of the 2015 championship year, taking a large championship lead. Frosty began running K&N filters in the #5 Pepsi Max PRA Ford Falcon FG X at the Castrol Gold Coast 600 round of the V8 Supercars series. Winterbottom held on to secure his first championship title and successfully won the first title for Ford in five years.

Also in 2015 Prodrive Racing Australia debuted the 2015 Ford Falcon (FG X) based #5 Pepsi Max V8 Supercar. Specifications of the #5 Pepsi Max PRA Ford Falcon FG X race car are below:

Mark Frosty Winterbottom secured his first V8 Supercars championship title and successfully won the first title for Ford in five years

Engine: FPR-developed, 5.0-litre V8 Ford with SVO cylinder iron block and aluminium heads. Category control MoTeC engine management control system
Power: Estimated 635+ bhp limited to maximum 7450rpm
Air Filter: K&N High-Flow Performance Air Filter
Transaxle: Albins ST6 six-speed sequential
Clutch: AP Racing triple-plate carbon 7 1/4-inch
Suspension: FPR-developed double-wishbone front suspension with coil over spring adjustable dampers. V8 Supercars-designed control Independent Rear Suspension (IRS), coil over adjustable rear dampers.
Brakes: Control pedal box, AP six-piston V8 Supercar control bake calliper, AP 395mm V8 Supercar control rotors up front. AP four-piston V8 Supercar control brake callipers, AP 355mm V8 Supercar control rotors in the rear.
Wheels: 18x12-inch aluminium control wheel
Tyres: Dunlop control tyre
Fuel Capacity: 114-litre
Vehicle weight: 1400kg (category minimum without driver)
Top speed: 299+ kph, 0-100kph: 3.5 seconds
Data system: MoTec ACL Acquisition System with steering wheel-mounted mini-dash display and gear shift light module. 1Gb memory, up to 100 channels of data at up to 1000 samples per second
Car-to-pit: Freewave telemetry system for live data monitoring of the car
Seat: Racetech FIA specification carbon fibre Seat
Steering wheel: FPR-developed steering wheel with MoTec mini-dash LCD display, LED gearshift light module and all driver controls

In addition to supporting drivers and teams of the International V8 Supercars series, K&N air filters established a 2-year deal with the Australian V8 Ute Racing Series to be the exclusive oil and air filter supplier to the Series. Use the K&N Search By Vehicle tool to find K&N performance filters for almost anything with an engine. Then take advantage of the K&N Dealer Search tool to find an authorized K&N dealer in almost any part of the world.