Ford unleashed its new GT race car with a singular purpose in mind: reclaim its former glory at Le Mans 50 years after its legendary 1-2-3 podium finish. Even having accomplished its stated goal in the sweetest fashion by winning the Le Mans GTE Pro class by virtue of beating Ferrari, Ford still has plenty it wants to do with the GT moving forward.
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Shortly after Ford revealed that it is extending the GT race program through 2019, Ford Chip Ganassi Racing pulled its second straight double-podium finish at Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen. The No. 67 GT, driven by Richard Westbrook and Ryan Briscoe, finished in first place for the second time. The team of Joey Hand and Dirk Müller—who won Le Mans in June with teammate Sébastien Bourdais—took second place in the No. 66 Ford GT.
Perhaps as impressive: Westbrook did all the driving on Friday and Saturday while his teammate went home for the birth of his daughter. In so doing, he put the No. 67 GT on the pole with a record 1:41.301 lap and followed that up with a convincing victory.
“It’s just such a good period for us at the moment,” Westbrook said. “Confidence is so high. It’s just a pleasure going to work every day in this Ford camp. It’s just been an amazing 30 days especially, really. First the Le Mans 24 Hours and now this. It was a great race out there. We had a really great battle with the BMW for most of the race. At one point, I thought we didn’t have enough for them, but at the end, we just seemed that little bit stronger. It was a really good race. A good race to be part of. I’m really happy for my teammate that he actually made it to the track and he has a nice trophy to bring home to his girls.”
“Thanks to the team and for Richard for sticking it out for me while I was gone,” added Briscoe. “It’s been awesome being in the car today. It handled really well. It’s nice to lead some laps and get the win.”
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