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February 28, 2017 | General

ABIGAIL TO MAKE DEBUT AT CLIPSAL

It has been a year in the making and a labour of love but the Jesus Racing Team will finally debut ‘Abigail’ their brand new Ford Falcon XYGT at Round 1 of the Touring Car Masters Championship at the Clipsal 500 event in Adelaide this weekend.

It is a significant moment for the minnow team as they step up from their previous XYGT that was over 15 years old and built to the NC Historic specifications.

When launching the car team founder and driver Andrew Fisher said “The name Abigail came from a lady mentioned in the Bible as being the most beautiful and wisest lady to have ever lived… we think that our creation is a perfect reflection of her name sake… she truly is amazing both inside and out.â€Â

The entire team has put in an amazing amount of effort in order to get Abigail ready. They contracted the experience of Marty Brant the preeminent Touring Car Masters race car builder to help design and fabricate Abigail and more recently the team have been fortunate to secure the services of Rhett Obrien who successfully ran Steve Owen in the V8 Supercar development series to fill the role of team race engineer.

The team is looking forward to pushing closer to the front and building on their maiden race win from last year.  It will be a big challenge against the more fancied Holden Toranas – there will be 5 of them in the series this year and the most successful car in TCM history the ex-John Bowe Mustang Sally that will be piloted by Steve Johnson. The team is excited to be representing the fans that love the Blue oval from down under in what is most likely the most iconic race car in Australian racing.

The team will thank a number of supporters this weekend by running their names on the car.

“We would not be able to do what we do without the support of others we are so appreciative of the people that stand behind us and this weekend they will join us on the grid by having their name proudly displayed on Abigail†said Fisher.

The immaculately prepared Ford Falcon looks stunning in its Rosso Corsa Ferrari red paint and the retro look livery is sure to please the traditional motor racing crowd. While the engineering underneath the car is continuously being developed it has come a long way from the old car that Jesus Racing has campaigned in the last couple of years.

Whilst the team is keen to get on track they admit they still have some further developments to come

“We have a couple of issues with the front end that will be sorted between rounds 1 and 2 and we also don’t have our actual race engine as yet – we will be using our spare engine this weekend†said Fisher.

As usual the team will stay on in Adelaide after the race weekend where they will visit 7 High Schools and a Detention Centre to present the Life Choices program on behalf of the Life Choices Foundation. No doubt the new car will create some additional excitement and who knows maybe there could be some silverware to display as well!

You can watch live on Fox Sports Channel 10 (limited races only) or keep an eye on the Jesus Racing Team Facebook page for updates throughout the weekend.