2000s In December 2002,
Prodrive purchased
Glenn Seton Racing, and renamed it Ford Performance Racing as part of a marketing push to link the Prodrive-owned
Ford Performance Vehicles (formerly Tickford) road car range to the popular
V8 Supercars. Along with this renaming came a huge expansion programme – the team expanded from one car driven by
Glenn Seton to three; Seton,
Craig Lowndes and
David Besnard. The team moved into a new headquarters adjacent to the FPV factory in
Campbellfield,
Melbourne, and the crew expanded as well. The third car was entered using
Rod Nash Racing's Racing Entitlement Contract (REC). While other teams such had received major Ford support in the years since, it became the first official Ford factory team since the
Ford Works Team of 1962 to 1973. The team's early years were somewhat disappointing, given the fact the team was one of the best funded in V8 Supercars. Lowndes had his moments in
2003, including a round win at
Phillip Island, and a second-place finish at
Bathurst driving with Seton. Lowndes finished the year 5th in the championship, with Seton and Besnard well down the order. In
2004, the team downsized to two cars. Lowndes and Seton both had disappointing years, plagued by engine dramas, a lack of test days, and a lack of comparable data (their cars were built to different specifications). While the pair did start to find some pace at the end of the year (they finished second at
Bathurst again), they both decided to move at the end of the year – Lowndes to
Triple Eight Race Engineering and Seton to
Dick Johnson Racing.
Jason Bright and
Greg Ritter joined for the
2005 season. Bright had a consistent year, and finished inside the top 10, while Ritter was disappointing,
David Brabham replaced him for the final two rounds. In
2006,
Mark Winterbottom joined the team. Bright scored multiple front-row starts, including three pole positions. He won the inaugural round in
Bahrain, the
Desert 400, and came 6th in the championship. Winterbottom enjoyed a very consistent run to finish third in the championship. The pair won the
Sandown 500. FPR came second in the team's championship behind the
HSV Dealer Team. Bright left FPR at the end of the 2006 season to drive for his own
Britek Motorsport outfit, with
Steven Richards recruited to replace him. The team continued to take the challenge to the front-running teams. The most disappointing moment in
2007 was when Winterbottom left the circuit late in the race while leading at
Bathurst. In
2008 Winterbottom challenged for the championship, but
Jamie Whincup managed to finish the championship ahead of Winterbottom while Richards finished 8th. In
2009, the new
FG Falcon was debuted. While Triple Eight already had the speed, FPR struggled with only one win from Mark Winterbottom during the season with Steven Richards finishing a best of 3rd. The team also struggled at Bathurst again with the No. 6 car driven by Winterbottom and Richards caught fire on lap 50 while the second car driven by Dean Canto and Luke Youlden crashed late in the race. Mark Winterbottom and Steven Richards finished 5th and 13th in the championship.
2010s driven by
Chaz Mostert at the
2019 Adelaide 500 In
2010, Winterbottom finished 3rd and Richards 15th. For
2011,
Will Davison replaced Richards, who was retained as an endurance co-driver for Winterbottom. Winterbottom finished in 3rd place for the championship while Davison finished in 7th. In
2012, FPR were strong challengers for the championship, Winterbottom finishing 3rd with Davison finishing 4th. In January 2013, the team was sold by
Prodrive to Rusty French and Rod Nash. In the
2013 season, Mark Winterbottom and Steven Richards won the
Bathurst 1000. Davison finished the season in third, Winterbottom fourth.
Chaz Mostert joined the team in
2014, replacing Will Davison. FPR won the
2014 Bathurst 1000 with Mostert partnered by
Paul Morris. In
2015, Ford Performance Racing was renamed as Prodrive Racing Australia, as a result of Ford's decision to progressively withdraw its FPV brand and
V8 Supercars support by 2016. The team introduced the
Ford FG X Falcon, the first new Falcon since 2009. After a slow start, the team achieved considerable success in the next section of the season, with eleven out of fifteen race wins between the third event (the
Perth Super Sprint) and the eighth event (the
Sydney Motorsport Park Super Sprint). Winterbottom, co-driving with
Steve Owen, then went on to win the
2015 Wilson Security Sandown 500, leading home a team one-two with Mostert and
Cam Waters in second. It was the team's first win at the event since 2006. At the
2015 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, Mostert had a substantial crash in Friday qualifying, ruling his car out for the weekend and himself out for the rest of the season. This left Winterbottom with a large championship lead entering the final rounds, and while he didn't win another race after Sandown, Winterbottom held on to win his, and the team's first drivers' championship. The team was leading the teams' championship until the final round, in which it was overtaken by long-time rivals Triple Eight. In
2016, Mostert was moved to customer team
Rod Nash Racing for sponsorship purposes, with
Cam Waters joining the team full-time in car No. 6 alongside defending champion Winterbottom. The team only won 2 races, both with Winterbottom who finished the championship in 6th place. Waters finished his first season in 19th, with his best finish being 4th place at the
Bathurst 1000 with
Jack Le Brocq. In
2017 the team continued with the same driver lineup, with its only race win being the
Sandown 500 with Waters and co-driver
Richie Stanaway. Winterbottom finished the championship in 6th, while Waters finished in 8th place. In 2016, Prodrive Racing Australia management re-formed the Ford-aligned vehicle enhancer, Tickford. In 2018, the team was rebranded as Tickford Racing, with Stanaway joining the team in car No. 56. The Rod Nash Racing REC was moved to the team with Mostert, officially making Tickford Racing a 4 car team. ==Customer cars==