Ford GT Hits Sixth Straight Podium After Third-Place Finish at Lime Rock
The Ford GT has now reached the podium in each and every race it has participated in since May after pulling down third place at the Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park last weekend. The No. 67 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing GT piloted by Richard Westbrook and Ryan Briscoe made the podium after establishing itself as a threat to win the whole thing for much of the race, and the No. 66 car gutted out a solid fifth-place finish thanks to the resolve of drivers Joey Hand and Dirk Müller.
With the podium finish, Ford Chip Ganassi Racing extends its streak of races with a car in the top three to six. The highlight came in June when the Ford GT topped the Le Mans GT Pro Class in the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans, taking two of the top three spots and beating rival Ferrari in the process.
“The run continues,” Westbrook said. “It wasn’t a win, but we should be really proud of ourselves with this podium. It was the first time here for the team in this car, and we weren’t able to test here, so it’s another part of the learning process. To come away still in the hunt for the championship, I’ll take that.”
“It was a really hard-fought race,” Briscoe added. “We had a little first-lap incident that put us at the back of the field, so it was a great fight to get back up to the front.”
The No. 67 car last took first at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, following a 1-2 finish for the No. 67 and No. 66 cars at 6 Hours of the Glen .
The No. 66 car finished in fifth after contact with another car in the early going took some of the edge off of its performance.
“Sometimes at a place like this, a fifth-place finish is good because the car is not in good shape at the end anymore,” Müller said. “Congratulations to the No. 67 team and thank you to our team who worked so hard at the pit stops. We brought the No. 66 home unhurt and still earned points in the championship and we’re happy with that. We look forward to Road America.”
The No. 66 and No. 67 Ford GTs get back to the track on August 5th-7th at Road America, where they will no doubt be looking to extend their podium hot streak.
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