SAN DIEGO, August 17, 2001 - JBA Racing and its 2001 Ford Focus set a new land speed record for G-Production vehicles when it averaged 141.803 mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah.

On its final run on the fourth day of racing during Speed Week, the JBA Racing Ford team succeeded in breaking the second oldest standing record at Bonneville, set back in 1973 by a rotary-powered Mazda. Piloted by driver Bruce Tucker, the Focus set a new class record in G-Production.

JBA Racing, the engineering arm of JBA Headers and a subsidiary of Automotive Engineered Products, Inc., developed the 2001 Ford Focus station wagon for competition in this year's Bonneville time trials. Working together with Ford Motor Company, the program demonstrates the performance potential of the new Focus platform and showcases the new products currently available from JBA and other automotive aftermarket manufacturers and suppliers.

"It is amazing what JBA has done with the Focus and the naturally aspirated Zetec 2.0L engine in putting together a top speed record vehicle," said Mike Gearhart, Race Program Manager Small Car Division, Ford Motor Company.

"We are very excited about the record set yesterday morning," said J. Bittle, President of JBA. "It is important that we were able to demonstrate the capabilities of our products. We look forward to going back and reengineering our Focus for competition in higher speed classes for 2001."

JBA, a 15-year mainstay in the domestic V8 market, entered the small vehicle market with an aggressive development program to offer street legal performance products to the public. This program has yielded many new components and systems that owners can use to personalize their vehicles. JBA products are available across the United States and Canada. For more information regarding JBA and a list of distributors, visit its web site at www.jbaheaders.com.

Text Source: Ford Media Information Center